Learning from the Dance of Love
by KTstoriesandstuff
Summary: REVISED - Gale's unrequited love for Katniss is fueled by watching Beetee care for Wiress after the Quarter Quell. As he helps Katniss become the Mockingjay, he learns from Beetee's example what it means to never give up on the one he truly loves. SPOILERS for Mockingjay and CF, slightly AU. Galeniss angst at the beginning followed by Galeniss juicy moments.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I wouldn't need a Fanfiction account if I owned the Hunger Games... just sayin' :D

Team Gale fans: Enjoy the angst!

Team Peeta fans: Sorry.

Team Nerds fans: Enjoy the cuteness!

A/N: This story is being redone and being told exclusively from Gale's point of view! The premise of the story will stay the same, but I'm changing it so it flows better and the plot moves along faster :D Enjoy! :)

* * *

I sat on the worn couch and watched the Games with Vic and Rory. Posy was outside with Ma hanging up laundry. "They're on the island thing." Vic said watching Katniss and Peeta's allies gather near the cornucopia.

"That's wire, right?" Rory asked as he watched Wiress singing and washing Beetee's spool of wire in the water.

"Yeah." I said. "For her district partner. Beetee, I think his name is." Rory nodded. I looked at Katniss who was sitting with Peeta and listening to Beetee explain the electrical trap he was planning praying to anything that it would work. Vic gasped as Gloss grabbed Wiress around her throat cutting her singing short. Suddenly Katniss loaded an arrow into her bow. "C'mon, Catnip!" I gasped as Katniss fired an arrow into Gloss' hand causing him to release his grip on the knife he was undoutbtably planning on using to slit Wiress' neck. "YEAH!" I cheered. "YEAH, MY CATNIP!" _Take THAT CAREER! _I cheered in my head. My Catnip could kick their asses any day.

"He's strangling her!" Vic gasped as Gloss tightened his grip on Wiress' neck. Her already blue face turned bluish-purple as her eyes rolled back into her head. _That's a horrible way to die._ I thought. "Oh no - she can't breathe!" Gloss fell back into the water intending to drown her. However, Finnick plunged his trident into his abdomen. "What's Katniss doing?" Vic asked worriedly as Katniss dove into the water.

"She's going to save her!" Rory gasped perching on the edge of the couch. I put a hand on each of their shoulders to reassure them. My Catnip could do this. District Three was part of the alliance, and I knew my Catnip was loyal to her allies. Katniss jumped into the water as she stabbed at Gloss' arms to release Wiress. After what seemed like an eternity, Wiress floated to the surface. Meanwhile, the island began spinning to break up the fight between the remaining Careers, Peeta, Beetee, and Johanna. We all cheered as Katniss held the small frail woman afloat until the Gamekeepers stopped the spinning of the central island. Finnick pulled her to shore and was able to revive her in the same way he did with Peeta. I gazed into Beetee's face when Finnick lay Wiress in his arms. His love for Wiress was etched in every line of his tired face.

"Wiress - my love -" Beetee gasped cradling his district partner / wife. "Oh honey -" He kissed her tenderly. Her eyes fluttered open. "Baby, it's me. I have you, honey." He held her close as he cried out of relief. I sniffled and realized tears were streaming down my face as well. "I love you. I love you so much, Wiress my dear." Beetee whispered. _I love you, Catnip. I want you to make it too. _

"Are you ok, Gale?" Hazelle asked. I jumped as she touched my shoulder, not realizing I was crying along with Beetee.

"I want to love my Catnip like that, Ma." I admitted sniffling. Great. I sounded like a sap, but I wanted to love my Catnip the way Beetee loved Wiress.

"Well, if things work out, you can." Ma said smiling. "You just watch, she'll make it out again, son."

"She's strong, Gale. You taught her to be strong. She can do it." Rory said patting me on the back. Vic joined him.

"Thanks." I whispered. "Thanks a lot, you guys." I cleared my throat and went back to being the stoic Gale they knew and needed. Catnip would get out of the arena, and then I would just have to see what happened.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up in a crappy mood as I had for the past month since coming to District Thirteen. Grunting as I dressed, I could mostly block out my brothers and sister playing in the compartment. "I'm Gale!" Posy said striking a serious face. She grabbed a pretend weapon from off her and Ma's bunk and aimed it at Vic. "Angry Gale!" She said. "Pshew! Pow!" She fired her pretend weapon. Watching her play, I knew I should have been grateful that she was able to play and adjust to living underground after barely escaping the firebombing of District Twelve.

"He's not that bad, Pose." Vic chuckled ruffling her hair.

"But, he don' say 'mornin' no more." Posy said in a small voice. My heart broke as I heard my sister's painfully true observation, but I couldn't show it. One sign of weakness and Gale Hawthorne would have to admit defeat. Defeat by Bread Boy who somehow stole his Catnip. I grabbed my duffel bag and stomped out of the compartment. "PSHEW PSHEW! Gale gon' shoot!" Posy called as the door closed. Posy's District Thirteen school teacher probably cringed every time Posy spoke with her characteristic Seam accent and mannerisms. If I remembered, I'd ask her about it after dinner.

I went to the hospital with my breakfast to see Katniss as I had every morning. Running into Beetee helped as he assured me in his way that somehow Katniss was grateful for my help. I couldn't help but look at Beetee's happy love-filled face as he made his way to his wife's bed. I'd give anything in Panem to be married to Katniss for twenty years and still be so ridiculously in love with her the way Beetee loved Wiress and vice versa.

_Lucky Nerds._ I thought as I looked at Katniss' bed. She was in restraints again meaning she had flipped out on the aides early this morning. They also probably pumped enough drugs in her to kill a bear, but she was still together enough to glare at me. "Hey, Catnip." I said. "I see you have oatmeal. The standard District Thirteen breakfast." I set my bowl on the tray next to hers. "Want syrup?" I asked looking at the small cup of some sort of dark sweet syrup. "We could never have eaten like this back home." I said stirring her oatmeal. I looked down at her hands. "I'll help you out, Catnip." I said. She hissed at me as I brought the spoon toward her. "Do you want me just to call you Katniss?" I asked. She stared at me blankly. "Well, Katniss, you should probably eat something." I got the spoon into her mouth. She looked at me and spat the food into my face. "UGH!" I groaned. "Katniss, come on, you wouldn't waste food like this in Twelve." Katniss groaned and pulled against her restraints. "Whoa – hey –" I said placing my hand on her forehead. "I'm sorry I brought that up. Katniss, come on, this is the only way you'll be able to eat. Your hands are tied. Literally." She spat at me. I sat back and balled my hands into fists.

I wanted more than anything to shake her and yell at her to snap out of it. No, Peeta wasn't here, but she was _not alone, damn it! I was here! Haymitch was here! Prim and her mother were here for Snow's sake! _ I let out my breath slowly and heard Beetee talking to his wife in a gentle tone. Snippets of their conversation such as, "Love… dear…my wire…good job…" carried across the room. Beetee was feeding Wiress and taking care of most of her personal needs as she was too weak to do much except lie in bed. She had developed pneumonia after the Games and was still recovering. _C'mon, Gale. Be patient. Like Beetee._ I looked at Katniss again. "Katniss, I'll get an aide over to help you. I'd like you to eat to gain strength." I said. I smiled at her. "I have to go, but I'll be back in a bit." I called the aide over. She shook her head sympathetically at the oatmeal spattered across my face and shirt. After wolfing down my breakfast so it didn't get cold, I took my leave of the hospital. Beetee followed me.

"Thanks for holding the door for the old man." Beetee chuckled. I nodded and wiped my face with my sleeve.

"Ugh." I groaned. "DAMN! I don't have time to change." Beetee handed me a handkerchief and I tried to wipe my shirt off the best I could.

"They'll understand." Beetee said kindly. "Once when I was helping Wiress, I got a giant mess all down my shirt. Of course that was the day that Coin wanted to meet with me about breaking into the Capitol's broadcasts."

"What did you do?"

"I just borrowed a shirt from Plutarch." Beetee explained. "They understand you just need to be there for your love, Gale." I nodded. I looked at Beetee who sighed as he pushed his chair toward Command. The man was nearly fifty and he was pulling sixty hour weeks in Command while spending his spare time caring for his wife in the hospital. _How the hell do you do it?_ "Do what?" Beetee asked. I blushed knowing I said that out loud.

"How do you take care of Wiress like one of her aides and then do your work in weapons?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, I can understand if you both were twenty or something but –"

"I'm an old fart?" Beetee asked. I paused and he chuckled to fill the awkward silence. "Honestly, Gale, I can only focus on my work _because_ I see Wiress so often. I know she's cared for, I can see her progress, and I'll know that I'll have a good shot at being able to care for her when she comes home." I nodded. He stopped and turned around so he was facing me. "Son, in my twenty years of marriage, this is probably _the_ hardest thing I ever had to do: care for my wife who's health has been almost entirely stripped away by the Capitol." I nodded. "You're a young kid, and I'm sorry you have to see your love suffer. It's tough, kid, but you have to keep on reminding yourself that there's hope _somewhere_ in the situation as you watch her suffer." I nodded. "I hope that helps."

"The Capitol has stripped Catnip's heart away." I said quietly. Beetee nodded sympathetically. "Thanks though. For the advice." I had a crapload of stuff to think about. I stooped down and hugged Beetee. "See you."

"Take care, Gale." Beetee said before he opened the doors to the technical unit of Command. I went to military training. Today was heavy physical training, and I was stoked. Running and working out until my muscles burned somehow released all my mental pain about Katniss temporarily. As my shoes pounded the worn track, I could imagine running through the woods hunting like old days. As I did chin-ups, I imagined climbing trees with my Catnip. As I did sit-ups, I thought of how Catnip's body felt against mine when I would hold her close to protect her outside. When I showered after several hours of working out, I noticed that my arms, legs, chest, and abs were getting even more ripped. I won't lie, I wished _ my _ridges and bulges of _my_ muscles were what my hunter girl was longing for instead of Breadboy's. With that thought, I pounded my fist on the tiles of the shower and swore. _Pull it together, Hawthorne._ I told myself using my drill sargant's voice. Toweling myself off, I pushed thoughts of how _this_ couldn't compare to Breadboy, I changed into clean fatigues and got ready for my meeting with Plutarch before heading down to lunch.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello there, Soldier Hawthorne." Plutarch said as I saluted upon entering the conference room in Command. "You do know that I am not a military officer." He said smiling at me.

"I know, sir." I said as I sat at the conference table and looked at the screen showing the map of the districts. They were shaded according to their degree of rebellion. The Career districts hadn't budged. My district was listed as: uninhabited / destroyed.

"Interesting map, isn't it?" Plutarch asked noticing me studying it.

"Yes, sir."

"Would you like to call you Soldier Hawthorne or Gale?" Plutarch asked. I shrugged. "Well, at any rate, all of your commanding officers have said nothing but good things about you. You are certainly an asset to the revolution."

"My training regimen allows me to cope, sir." I replied. Shooting rifles, throwing grenades, and filling my mind with knowledge of weaponry pushes away the feeling of loss: of my home, of my woods, of my Catnip to the Capitol. "I have lost much to the Capitol, sir. It is the least I can do."

"Understandable, young man." Plutarch said. I nodded. I could sense his sincerity and was grateful. "Mr. Beetee Tesla has mentioned that you have handled things remarkably well. He is pleased with your work and with your work with him."

"Thank you, sir." I said. _Come on, just get to the point._ Plutarch must have seen my face harden.

"I'm not trying to butter you up for my request, Soldier Hawthorne. I firstly did want to genuinely acknowledge your contributions to the revolution. I was hoping that your hunting partner Katniss Everdeen will possibly be able to assist us in the role of Mockingjay."

"Which is?" I asked becoming wary again.

"A symbol. A spokesperson for the revolution as well as a fellow soldier. We've seen her shooting abilities in the Games and wish to use those to our advantage as well as her role as a public figure as a two-time victor."

"With all due respect, sir, she's tired of being paraded around for someone else's good." I replied before I could restrain myself.

"That is an honest sentiment to have. President Coin has also asked me to tell you that she should take into consideration that District Thirteen has thus far provided her and her family with lodging and medical care in return for a chance to take down the Capitol." I nodded. They would hold up their end of the deal only if we would hold up ours.

"Yes, sir." I said. "Sir - she's -" I paused. "She is upset that Br - Peeta Mellark didn't get out of the arena." I paused. "She's - she's going crazy with him gone, sir." Might as well tell the truth and not nice it up either.

"I have received the psychiatrist's report." Plutarch said. "I am also aware that you visit the hospital frequently to care for her."

"I do what I can." I said.

"I understand your training is time-intensive."

"It is, sir." I replied. "I do what I can, and I can only bring her so far. She insists she needs Mellark." There. Solve that, Plutarch. I leaned back and folded my arms across my chest. Plutarch studied me intently as I tried my hardest not to scowl at him. _Play your game with that, Gamemaker. There._

"I appreciate your insight, Soldier Hawthorne. If you are able, I would appreciate your continued efforts to see Katniss in the hospital. Keep up the good work on training, son." I nodded. I thanked him and saluted before walking out the door. Conveniently, hand-to-hand combat, weight training, and more arms training was scheduled for my day. Fighting, working out, and shooting things would be a perfect outlet for everything I was feeling. That could explain why I snapped the hand-to-hand combat trainer's wrist, kicked him hard in the nuts to where I swore I heard them split open, and nearly broke both of his kneecaps. The blonde hair and stocky build was enough to remind me of Catnip's damn breadboy and I wanted his physical pain to match my mental anguish. _  
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	4. Chapter 4

After my meeting with Plutarch, I had dinner. Beetee joined me at the table as we would sometimes talk weapons development. "Ma, Mr. Tesla done look sad." Posy said.

"Well, give him a nice smile, and I bet he'll smile back." Ma said. Posy caught Beetee's eye and smiled at him.

"Hi sweet little girl." Beetee said smiling. Posy bounced in her seat before eating more of her soup.

"Long day?" I asked. Beetee nodded. "May I ask?" Beetee nodded and sighed.

"Dr. Aurelius evaluated Wiress again." He said. I nodded. Dr. Aurelius was the neurologist / psychiatrist that was responsible for the Victor-Rebels' care in District Thirteen. He had regularly updated me on Katniss' progress. "He thinks -" Beetee gulped. "He thinks either the speech part of her brain is damaged and she won't be able to talk but still be mostly herself or -" Beetee took a shuddering breath. "Or - she has massive brain damage where -" He gulped. "She'll be able to hopefully walk and maybe feed herself - do basic hygiene - but - that's all." His voice broke and he began crying. "I'm sorry." Ma scooted over and patted his shoulder.

"Mr. Tesla, I am sorry." She said gently. "I lost a spouse and - a few of my friends have had husbands so severely injured in te mines - I'm so sorry."

"Thank you -" Beetee sniffled. "I just want my girl back. My inventor, my engineer, my wife. I want her back."

"I want Catnip back." I said simply. "I want her back rearing up and fighting against the Capitol. I want my hunting partner back. Not this drugged up angry -" I sighed. "I want my girl back." Beetee nodded.

"Shall we check on them?" Beetee asked. I nodded. I grabbed Beetee's tray and put it in the dishroom before we went to the hospital. We talked about work for a bit before going into the Victors' unit.

"Beetee, things have been a bit busy around here, but I'll get around to Wiress as soon as I can." An aide said hurriedly as she pushed a cart with monitoring equipment over to Katniss' bedside. "Gale,"

"Restrained again?" I asked. Katniss was moaning and twitching in her restraints. "Don't worry about it. I'll be over in a sec." Beetee looked at me questioningly. "Um - Beetee - I can help you. If you want and if Wiress feels comfortable."

"Ok." Beetee said. He sighed. "I'd actually appreciate that very much." We went into Wiress' curtained off cubicle. She was laying on her side curled up, her head buried under her blankets. She hid in her bedding whenever another patient (usually Catnip) began screaming. I pulled down the railing so Beetee could reach her. "Hi there, beautiful." He said lovingly as he uncovered her head. Her large eyes fluttered open and a small smile played on her lips. "It's me, baby. Gale's going to help us, ok?" I put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her as she focused her gaze on me. "Gale, could you just lift her up? Gloves are on top of her table." I pulled on some gloves and handed some to Beetee. We rolled Wiress over and I lifted her up in bed so she was basically sitting. Beetee pulled back her blankets and changed the pad under her. He cleaned her up and pulled the blankets back up. Wiress was calm through the whole process, her gaze fixed upon Beetee for the whole time. Beetee pulled off his gloves and washed his hands before coming back to her side. "There you are, my beautiful girl." He whispered before kissing her on the cheek. "I bet you feel better, love." I smiled at them. "Thank you so much, Gale."

"No problem." I said. I closed the curtain to Wiress' area and walked to Katniss' bed which was on the other side of the room. Her arms and legs were restrained and there was a clip on one of her fingers to measure her heart rate and such. Her eyes were open but glazed over. They had medicated her to the max. "Hey, Catnip." I said. I reached out and held one of her hands. "I haven't forgotten about you." She stared at me blankly. "I know you're not feeling great." I paused. "You're strong. You can do this." I paused hearing Beetee talking gently to his wife. I wanted to do the same thing with Katniss, but every time I looked at her, anger consumed me. The Capitol did this and they needed to be obliverated. It was hard to be gentle when I was peeved at them, Breadboy, and yes even Catnip herself. I sighed.

"Peeta." She whispered. I pulled my hand away from hers.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Katniss." I said keeping my voice even. Wordlessly I left the hospital and went back to my compartment. I wanted Katniss to regain her sanity as much as Beetee wanted Wiress to regain her intellect. We would just have to see. The Capitol may have taken our girls, but we would fight on their behalf with everything we had.


	5. Chapter 5

"PEETA! PEETA!" I sighed as I opened the doors to the Victors' unit. After wolfing down my breakfast, I hurried to the hospital since Prim had informed me that Katniss had a bad night. "PEETA!" Katniss was fighting off two aides who were trying to keep her in bed.

"Katniss." A red-haired aide named Sarah said gently but firmly. "I know you are worried about Peeta, but you still have to be calm. You will not get well if you keep getting upset."

"Catnip?" I asked coming over to the bed, my hands up to block any punches or slaps that came my way. I blocked her left hand as it swung toward my face. "Catnip, the aides are all here to help. You're with Prim, you're safe." I hoped my voice was as calm as the aides' voices were every time they attempted to talk Katniss down.

"PEETA'S NOT SAFE GALE!" Katniss snarled at me. "GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE! I NEED PEETA!" Suddenly I heard someone else crying.

"Catnip," I said trying to stay calm. I reached for her and she sat up before slapping me full force in the face.

"I HATE YOU GALE! I HATE YOU!" She screamed seconds before the aides were working on tying her arms to the bed. A nurse came over and injected her with yet another sedative.

"I'm sorry." I said before dropping my gaze to the ground. I decided it was best if I left. Scared weeping was coming from the opposite side of the room. My mind clicked realizing it was Wiress. "Wiress?" I asked. "Do you need me to get an aide?" Wiress was sitting in bed weeping. Her blankets and sheets were dirty meaning she had probably burrowed and tangled herself in them when Katniss was starting her episode. "It's Gale. Katniss is ok. She's just scared." I said gently. _Why can I be so calm when I talk to Wiress Tesla and she can't talk back but I want to yell at my own Catnip?_ I sighed. She inched toward me on her hands and knees. "Wiress, do you need Beetee?" Wiress seemed to perk up. "I'll go get him, ok?" I walked away and then heard a loud thud followed by wailing that mixed with Katniss screams. "Oh damn!" I swore seeing Wiress on the ground in a heap. She had apparently tried to climb over the railing. I opened her curtain.

"I NEED AN AIDE OVER HERE!" I screamed. A dark haired aide named Janet hurried over. "She was crying and I came over to see what was the matter and I think she tried to climb out of bed." Wiress lifted her head to reveal blood streaming out of her nose. "Oh Snow." I muttered. "Do you need me to help get her back into bed?"

"Well, once a patient falls, we have to watch for neck injuries. Stay with her, don't move her, and I'll get more staff and a backboard." Janet explained. Beetee chose that moment to pull back the curtain.

"WIRESS - oh Wiress, my sweetheart -" Beetee backed his chair along the side of the wall and then slowly walked over toward us. I was kneeling down holding Wiress' hand and wiping the blood from her nose with a washcloth. Her crying slowed dramatically once she saw Beetee. He sat down near her head and stroked her hair while holding her other hand. "I'm here, oh baby, what happened?" Beetee whispered. I explained the situation. "I know you were scared, I know, honey." He let two nurses and Janet the aide assess Wiress and put her on a backboard to protect her back and neck.

"Do you want me to tell them you're running late?" I asked. Beetee sighed.

"Might as well. I'll stay with her until she gets settled back down." Beetee said. He went over to the bed and pulled the railing down. After putting on gloves, he stripped his wife's bed of the soiled sheets.

"Do you want me -" I began.

"No, Doc says I need to walk and carry things to gain my strength. Might as well be useful here." he said smiling. I nodded. "I think they got Katniss settled down. You should go after you say a quick goodbye." I turned and walked out the double doors without saying goodbye.

Training with more weapons helped take my mind off of Catnip. Using a ground to air missile launcher made me grin as I imagined shooting down Capitol aircraft. _Maybe I could shoot down a craft that was trying to intercept Peeta._ I shook my head at the thought, yet I realized I had five different rescue scenerios in my head. If I had to bring Peeta back while engaging in hand to hand combat from District Thirteen all the way to the Capitol, I would if it would make Catnip happy. "Gale?" Beetee asked breaking me from my thoughts as I stirred my lumpy mashed potatoes. "Are you doing ok, son?"

"Yeah." I said. "Just thinking about weapons training." Beetee nodded. "How's Wiress?"

"Fine. She'll have a bit of a black eye but they're putting ice on it. She got some medicine for pain and then a sedative right away." Beetee sighed. "She just gets so agitated in that hospital." I bit my lip.

"Sorry. I'm sorry." I said. Beetee gave me a sad smile. "I just wish I could calm her down. I can't. I don't know what happened to my hunting partner. I can't get into her mind anymore." I blurted out. Beetee sighed and nodded.

"I can see that." Beetee said gently. "You try all the ways you've communicated in the past but you don't get - much."

"Wiress smiles at you." Beetee nodded. "She seems happy you're around at least."

"Yes. She does." Beetee said. "But she's still so out of it. Once I began talking about something I was testing in weapons and - I was talking about a mechanism she would've been familiar with and -" Beetee bit his lip. "Nothing." He rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. "She just gave me this blank look -" I gently placed my hand on his shoulder as he took in a shuddering breath. "I don't want to think about that part of her being gone."

"I don't want to think that my Catnip has changed." I said slowly. Beetee nodded. "How do you - I mean - how do you not - I just want to get so mad sometimes."

"Get mad at the Capitol, son. Not at your girl. That's what I do." Beetee said. "I have to." I nodded.

"Thanks, Beetee." I replied as we finished up lunch.

"No. Thank you." Beetee said smiling. "You're young, but you understand."


	6. Chapter 6

"Soldier Hawthorne? You are needed in the hospital Victor's unit." I sighed and pulled the ammo chain off of my shoulder and put the safety back on the M16. Saluting my commanding officer to let him know I heard, I left the shooting range. It had been two days since I had been in the Victors' unit and I wasn't looking forward to going back.

"Soldier Hawthorne at your service." I said at the front desk. The intake nurse smiled.

"Dr. Aurelius asked for you." I nodded and followed her back to the Victors' unit. I locked eyes with steel grey eyes that betrayed wariness for a split second. Katniss was sitting up in bed with Dr. Aurelius sitting in the chair next to her.

"Hello, Soldier Hawthorne." Dr. Aurelius said smiling. "I'm sorry to pull you out of your training, but we needed you for something." I nodded.

"No problem, sir." I said.

"Pull up a chair." He said cheerfully. I got a chair from next to Finnick's bed. He was asleep and didn't hear me coming into his cubicle. "Now, Katniss had an idea that I think she would like to run by you." I looked in to her eyes but the spark that gave her the name Girl on Fire was snuffed out replaced by a blank look.

"I want to go to District Twelve." Katniss said in a flat tone.

"Catnip -" I paused. "You do realize that -"

"I want to go." Katniss repeated. "I just have to see it." I looked at Dr. Aurelius who showed no emotion. "Gale," She paused. "Would you like to come with me?" I inwardly cringed.

"Why? I will go if you want, I just want to know why." I said choosing my words carefully. Katniss blinked.

"I just need to see it." She said softly. She closed her eyes and Dr. Aurelius coached her in taking some deep breaths. "I - for it to be - real." Fear flashed across her grey eyes. I gently took her hand before she wrapped mine in a clammy grip.

"Catnip. I'll go with you." I said. She nodded before Dr. Aurelius checked his watch and then opened a drawer on her metal bedside table. He took out a small syringe and injected its clear contents into an IV line that was placed on Katniss' forearm. Other medicine bags were feeding into the line adding medication to her system.

"There you go. You can relax now, Katniss." He said gently. Katniss's eyes glazed over before she fell asleep. Dr. Aurelius sighed after writing something down in her chart. "We've been keeping her heavily sedated except for when I have sessions with her. We meet in the morning and late afternoon." I nodded.

"So - how long will she be like this?" I asked.

"Until we figure out what combination of meds she needs and how best to support her emotionally. Then we will honor her request to go to District Twelve. If you would like to come along, you are more than welcome." Dr. Aurelius explained. "Would you be able to come to my office, Soldier Hawethorne?" I nodded. I pulled the blanket further up on Katniss. The doctor smiled at me.

"Taking a cue from Beetee." I explained. Dr. Aurelius chuckled.

"Mr. Beetee Tesla is an extraordinary person to get to know. His engineering talent is astounding and his heart is just as big if not bigger than his intellect. That says something of course."

"Yes." I agreed. We went into Dr. Aurelius' office where he sat in one of the two cushiony chairs in the room. I followed suit after closing the door behind me. "Doctor, will Katniss need to be drugged the rest of her life? I mean, she's never and I mean - _never_ been like this. Not even after our fathers died in a mining accident. But every time I come in there, she's being tied down. Well, except now because you are pumping her full of enough medicine to kill an ox."

"You bring up a good point, Mr. Hawthorne." Dr. Aurelius said. "My guess is that she channeled much of that anger and such into survival - caring for her family and hunting with you. I also believe she has never fully dealt with this grief. That event plus two Hunger Games plus complications in her relationship with Peeta Mellark -" I tensed up and cracked my knuckles. "has pushed her over the edge." I nodded. That made a ton of sense. "However, I imagine it's still quite a shock to see her in the state she is."

"Can't she just forget Mellark and be ok?" I asked suddenly realizing I was sounding quite harsh.

"That _would_ be an easy solution. Both for you and her." I nodded. "However, she would have to have clarity on her emotions she felt for both of you. Right now she doesn't."

"Nope." I grumbled. "And if I could bring Breadboy back, I could, but I can't - I can't - dammit - and I - she - she hates me for it." I gripped the arms of my chair and took deep breaths.

"I am sorry she has taken her anger and confusion out on you." Dr. Aurelius said. I bit my lip. He smiled. "I won't sedate you if you choose to cry in my office, Soldier Hawthorne." I chuckled a bit. "Beetee tells me that you have been quite devoted to her care." I raised my eyebrows.

"Not like him." I said quickly. "Beetee's like one of the aides. I mean, the man is fifty, barely able to walk, and he's feeding her, changing her, and everything. And he never yells at her. Never gets impatient. He really loves her." I swallowed. "He does."

"I believe you love Katniss as well." I blinked. "I believe that you muster up courage to walk into that room and stay with Katniss even while she's getting restrained, even when she's been aggressive toward you. You only leave when she's been sedated or when verbal coaxing just won't work anymore." I nodded and wiped my eyes on my sleeve before Dr. Aurelius passed me the tissue box.

"Well, I suggest that you continue talking with Beetee about this. He has expressed gratitude numerous times that you are willing to talk with him."

"I need him, sir." I explained. "I need his example."

"And he needs yours." I left Dr. Aurelius' office with my mind spinning. I checked on a sleeping Katniss once more before leaving the hospital. I wouldn't give up on Catnip. Maybe I won't be perfect like Beetee is with Wiress, but I would try. With his support and encouragement, I would try.


	7. Chapter 7

Katniss asked to go back to District Twelve - well, what was left of it - almost the moment she got her discharge papers from the hospital after a month of being tied to her bed. I sat in the hovercraft watching her. "How are you holding up, Gale?" Plutarch asked as I waited with him for Katniss to return.

"Well, if this helps Katniss become the Mockingjay, I guess I'm ok." I admitted shrugging. Plutarch chuckled slapping me on the knee. I nodded. She boarded the hovercraft with Buttercup in tow.

"Looks like you got some stuff from home." I commented trying to make conversation. She huffed and took out a silver parachute that had a pearl on it.

"Peeta." She whispered. I gritted my teeth and reminded myself that I would get seriously reprimanded if I punched out a window of the hovercraft. We got back to District Thirteen and Katniss went to her compartment to put her stuff away and deliver a certain cat to Prim. I chuckled when I could hear Prim squealing in joy through the somewhat thin walls between the compartments. _At least Catnip still knows how to please her little sister._

I went down to Command with her since we were both summoned after dinner. I quietly explained to Katniss who Coin and Boggs were and of course that Plutarch would be present at most Command meetings. Katniss shot daggers at the former Gamemaker before I nudged her in the arm. She stomped on my foot. Hard. "All rise." Boggs ordered. Everyone stood up except for Beetee who was in his wheelchair.

"Good evening." President Coin said. "We were gathered to discuss Soldier Everdeen's role of Mockingjay. Please be seated." Everyone sat down. "As we all know, Soldier Everdeen's actions up to this point have been a rallying point of rebellion for nearly all the districts." President Coin began. "However, before we continue our meeting, Mr. Tesla has been able to access the Capitol broadcasts so we can view them here in Thirteen."

"PEETA!" Katniss gasped hurrying to the front of the room pressing her hands against the glass. _Oh. For. The. Love. Of. Snow. Oh damn - I could KILL Caesar and them for putting Breadboy on TV - DAMN DAMN DAMN! _My mind raged, yet I stayed close to Katniss as she drank in Peeta's image. The crowd made room for me so I could stand by my hunting partner. I placed my hand on her shoulder, but she didn't notice as she was so absorbed into staring into Breadboy's face.

Peeta calls for a ceasefire. The broadcast ends with people breaking into dissatisfied and disgusted murmurs at Peeta's suggestion. "You have not been dismissed, Soldier Everdeen!" Coin calls above the din. My hunting instincts kick in. _My Catnip! _She's like a scared animal escaping from a trap.

"MOVE!" My fists, elbows, and feet make contact with soft objects of people that make a path for me as I fight to run the length of the room. Boggs attempts to jump in front of me, but my face meets his elbow. Even though a dull pain radiates from my nose, I am not deterred. "I NEED TO FIND KATNISS! MOVE NOW! I feel something being torn off my left wrist. _Aw, screw it, I'll deal with it later._ The door is unlocked saving me three seconds it would've taken for me to kick it down. I dart into the hallway and stop as soft sobs come from a closet. I pause and then walk lightly to the door. Slowly I open it and sit down next to my hunting partner.

"Gale." She whispered. I smile at her.

"Hey, Catnip."

"You're hurt." She reaches up and tries to brush the blood away from my nose with her sleeve. The slight pressure allows the rest of the blood pooled up there to drip onto my fatigues. She pulls away and we talk. She doesn't trust District Thirteen. She feels like they abandoned Panem much like the rest of the districts had abandoned it - assuming it was obliterated. I remind her that everyone outside the Capitol was waiting for _something _to convince the ordinary district citizen that the Capitol could maybe be taken down. While she is deep in thought, I think back to our time in District Twelve. All those times I wonder who will avenge our fathers' death, all my anger I had at seeing my Catnip fight to feed her sister and mother, the unfairness we both felt about the reapings, and time and time again, how helpless I felt as I watched the girl I loved take the Reaping stage so Prim wouldn't have to. "I'll do it." Katniss says eventually. I look into her grey eyes that once again show a spark of determination. "I'll be their Mockingjay."

I walked with her hand in mine to make sure she got back to her compartment. "See you later, Catnip." I said softly. Katniss nodded and went inside. I sighed. "Ma?" I asked poking my head in my compartment.

"What ya need, son?" Ma asked sitting up gingerly as not to wake Posy who was curled up next to her.

"I'll be talkin' to Beetee o'er yonder." I said pointing down the hall. Ma nodded.

"Ya come back before late, for your trainin' in the morn', son." Ma said softly but firmly.

"Yes'm." I said smiling at her. "Love ya." Ma blew a kiss toward me.

"Hello there, Gale." Beetee said. He pulled up a chair next to his desk. "I figured you'd come in after you left so quickly from Command."

"Thanks, Beetee." I said smiling. "How's Wiress today?"

"Oh! Good!" Beetee said beaming. "She's much calmer. The nurses are thinking about decreasing some of her sedatives. They noticed her looking around more, so I wonder if she'll be able to do more than we thought now that she'll be alert." I smiled.

"That's really great, Beetee." I said genuinely happy for him. Happiness was etched on every line of Beetee's face. "Katniss is coming along too." Beetee smiled. "She's going to be the Mockingjay."

"Very good." Beetee said nodding. "Very good."

"I - I - ah - am taking your advice. About not pressing her." I sighed deeply.

"It's hard, son." Beetee said, sadness flashing across his eyes. "When Wiress first came home from her Games - well -" He cleared his throat. "We had a bit of an intense relationship beforehand, but - she was so fragile -" He gulped. "Dr. Aurelius cautioned me that things would be different at first. I still loved her with everything I had. I never left her bedside, Gale, and I watched her come back to a new version of herself." Beetee smiled.

"New version of herself?" I asked.

"The Games change you, son. Especially going through two Games. I - when I bring Wiress home - we will have to work out how to be around each other - given how the Games changed us both physically - and mentally."

"She'll still love you." It wasn't a question. Beetee smiled.

"Yes." Beetee nodded. "Yes, I do believe so. And I believe Katniss loves you too. In what way, she may not know yet." I nodded.

"Thanks, Beetee." I said getting up from my chair.

"Any time, son." Beetee said. He got up and reached for his cane.

"Oh - you don't -" I began.

"Let the old man get the door for you, son." Beetee said chuckling. "Stretches my legs before I turn in." I nodded before bidding him goodnight and walking down the hallway. Beetee was right. Katniss and I would have to learn how to be around each other again. However, I hoped I never would have to learn to live without her love.


	8. Chapter 8

Even though my nose was sore from Bogg's elbow and I was missing my fancy communicuff, I could have skipped down the halls of District 13 after talking to Catnip. It took a while, but I had convinced Catnip to be the Mockingjay! Her fire was back and she was ready to fight the Capitol. And maybe - just maybe while taking down Capitolites she would remember what it was like to hunt with me and remember the closeness we once shared.

"Gale!" Rory called. I was in the shower washing up after some nighttime training exercises thinking about training, Catnip, our meeting, Catnip, the revolution, Catnip as the Mockingjay, my muscles and Catnip running her hands up and down my body. "What the hell, you moanin' bout in there!" He opened the door and I swore. "SHUT UP, GALE!" I was stunned that my thirteen year old brother was beginning to sound just like me.

"Rory, watch your damn mouth!" I yelled wrapping a towel around myself. Rory smirked. "What?" I asked. I didn't want to hear how he got my potty mouth. I only heard it once a day from Ma and Vic.

"Seriously Gale?" Rory asked. He cleared his throat and dropped his voice even lower while talking/groaning. "'Oh, Catnip! I just want your hands all over my muscles! Breadboy doesn't have _these_, Catnip!'" Rory paused and smirked. "Wait till Ma hears you done grabbed on your balls thinking about-" I grabbed him in a headlock. "AAH!"

_"You ain't seen nothin, boy!" _I hissed in his ear. I was washing more mentionable parts of my body when I thought of Katniss, but yes, I wished she was drooling over my hardened body rather than drooling over Peeta. "You say one word, boy, _one word_ and I'll tell Prim -"

"NO! NO! GALE! NO!" Rory yelped as I smirked. Prim could read a medical chart as well as the seasoned nurses in the hospital, but she had yet to realize that my brother was crazy about her.

"Ok then." I said before releasing his headlock. "Now get outta here."

I was still in a good mood when I woke up the next day. Even when Rory was imitating me during his morning routine in the bathroom, I just chuckled. Katniss was civil to me at breakfast andwe had a conversation without her threatening to hurt me. I could tell she was deep in thought as she finished her breakfast. "I'm going to get ready." She said. "To talk to them about being the Mockingjay."

"Good." I said. "I support you." She nodded.

"It's what Peeta would want." She said quietly. I bit my lip even though I probably looked disappointed. _Don't. Say. A. Word._ "Gale?" I grunted. She sighed as sadness and frustrated clouded her grey eyes. "Goodbye Gale." She said somewhat sullenly as she took her tray to the dishroom. _SNOW DAMN IT WHAT DID I DO?_ I screamed to myself. There went my good mood. Just because I didn't say, "Oh yes, Catnip, do what Breadboy would want you to do!" I shuffled out of the dining hall and walked to the training area.

That evening, I went to the Collective along with my platoon. My biceps and pecs ached from upper-body conditioning, but it was a good sort of burn. I swung my arms to stretch them as everyone filed in. I spotted Ma, Vic, Rory, and Posy in the crowd as Posy was riding on Roy's shoulders. Catnip was standing with Boggs and Plutarch who waved at me. She glanced up and gave me a nod before facing forward. I sighed and cracked my knuckles before Coin took the stage.

"Attention citizens of District Thirteen," Coin began. "We are gathered here because Soldier Katniss Everdeen has agreed to be the Mockingjay. However, she has some concessions: Peeta Mellark, Johanna Mason, and Annie Cresta will be pardoned for their role in helping the Capitol." Everyone bottled their whispering, but people exchanged uneasy glances with each other. "I have agreed to these provisions. Soldier Everdeen will fulfill her role of Mockingjay to aid in the revolution or else she and other Victors will be dealt with according to the laws of District Thirteen." I gulped. Coin still saw the Victors as traitors of sorts to the revolution. No matter what my Catnip felt about me, I _had_ to help her be the Mockingjay. Her life depended on it.


	9. Chapter 9

"GALE! OPEN THE DOOR!" Vic hollered. I sighed and rinsed the soap out of my hair.

"I'M IN THE SHOWER, VIC!" I yelled.

"IT'S YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" Rory yelled. I shook the water out of my hair and climbed into my briefs before opening the bathroom door.

"Katniss?" I asked leaning against the doorframe. Katniss stood in the middle of our compartment while my brothers sat on my bunk. Her grey eyes were looking intently at something - oh. I looked down and realized I had my very threadbare briefs on that were now soaked from me pulling them on fresh out of the shower. They still obscured certain things but didn't leave much to the imagination. Her eyes traveled up my body taking in my leg muscles, abs, pecs, and arm muscles that bulged out constantly now because of my intense military training.

"Gale?" Katniss asked peeling her eyes away from my muscles and other parts before meeting mine. "What do you think about - what Coin said in the Collective?"

"I dunno, Catnip." I said choosing my words carefully. "Look, Coin doesn't know you like I do, Catnip. In her eyes you still need to prove your loyalty to the rebellion." Catnip sighed. "You'll do fine. Beetee's going to show us our bows tomorrow." I smiled at her.

"Ok." Katniss said. "Gale?" I tried not to sigh as I pulled my soggy sagging briefs up.

"You _will_ be nice to my prep-team, won't you?" I clenched my jaw and stared into her grey eyes filled with pity.

"It's _that_ kind of attitude that makes Coin think you're not loyal to the revolution. Fine." I huffed. "I'll be civil." Katniss nodded stiffly. She turned around without saying goodbye or talking to any of my siblings.

"GALE HAWETHORNE!" Ma hollered as she came through the door as Katniss left. _Aw, damn._ "WHY YA STANDIN' THERE NEKKID WITH YA COMPANY IN HERE?" _  
_

"KATNISS DONE SEEN GALE IN HIS PANTIES!" Posy squealed as my brothers laughed. _Another thing they'll tease me about._

"Ma - It was an urgent conversation -" I began blushing. I turned around before I felt a hand swat me on my behind.

"YA GET DRESSED ELSE I'LL WHIP YA, BOY!" I closed the bathroom door. "And gimme ya underwears! Those done be fallin' apart!"

"Yes, Ma!" I called through the door as I pulled my pajamas on. There were some benefits to living next to the Everdeens, but there were also some benefits to living in the barracks with the rest of the guys. As I fell asleep in my bunk, I thought about taking Boggs up on that offer. Ma, Posy, Vic, and Rory were getting fed regularly and getting adjusted, so it was high time I moved out of Ma's house.

"Gale," Katniss said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. I raised my eyebrows as I came to the table. We were in the dining hall for lunch the day after Coin announced Katniss' role as the Mockingjay in the Collective. "Do you need to flex your muscles that hard to carry your tray?"

"No." I admitted. Catnip stared at the bulges and ridges of muscle on my arm. "Training just does this."

"Gale be strong, Katniss!" Posy cheered. "Guess what! This lady be green and she ain't sick though!" I nearly dropped my tray staring at the very colorful - things - sitting on the bench next to my siblings. _Damn Capitol scum sittin' near my family!_ My mind raged.

"Well, to really impress Posy, you'll have to dye yourself bright pink." I addressed the green lady next to Posy at lunch the next day. I tried to talk to them because Katniss' eyes are burning holes into me. I still didn't understand why Katniss felt sorry for her damn Capitol prep team. Their week long imprisonment didn't hold a candle to the districts' _seventy five year_ long imprisonment under the Capitol. After scarfing down my meal, I was ready to go. Katniss was still bugging me about my attitude toward her prep team. Deciding I would not argue with her, we walked in stony silence to the Special Defense. I nodded at a fellow soldier who escorted us to the Humming Bird room where Beetee was waiting for us. Katniss' eyes went wide as she looked into the room housing a meadow with humming birds. I smiled at her. "It's beautiful isn't it?" I asked quietly. Katniss gave me a genuine smile and nodded. Beetee waved to us in the middle of the room as he watched a bird drink from a flower. We walked in and heard someone humming. I looked beneath a tree near Beetee. Wiress was sitting on the ground in a grey dress watching the birds near Beetee and humming. She seemed happy. Beetee explained to Katniss Thirteen's research on hummmingbirds and Katniss confessed that she's never shot one.

"You could snare them maybe." I pipe up. Katniss watched me as I knew I had my thinking face on. I explained my idea and Beetee smiled.

"Plutarch said you had something for me." Katniss reminded Beetee.

"Oh yes. Hon?" Beetee called to Wiress. "C'mon, we're going to show the kids their equipment." She stood up and held onto one of the armrests of Beetee's chair. We went to Special Armory and the security process that always took ages. "She just started helping me with assembling the equipment." He said happily. "She put most of your bow together, Gale. If she didn't like a component, she would just hand it back to me." He laughed, "Isn't that right, hon?" He paused to let Wiress rest and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Wiress giggled a bit and hummed a happy little tune. Beetee unveiled my heavily militarized bow with a scope and such. My jaw hit the floor. I picked it up and looked through the scope and checked out all the other components.

"This - is amazing!" I breathed. "Wow!" Beetee laughed. He excused himself while he and Wiress went into another room presumably for Katniss' weaponry.

"That doesn't seem very fair to the deer." Katniss pointed out.

"Wouldn't be using it on deer, would I?" I answered thinking about taking out every single Gamemaker that made my Catnip's life hell for the last two years with this thing.

"So it'd be easy for you? Using that on people?" Katniss snapped back. I tensed up.

"I didn't say that." I said dropping my bow to my side. "But if I'd had a weapon that could've stopped the bombing of Twelve - kept you out of the arena - I 'd have used it." I explained. _If I had something to protect you from the Capitol, I would use anything - everything. I love you, Catnip. _My mind continued the rest of the rant I couldn't say because Katniss just wasn't ready to hear it.

Katniss is just as awed with her bow as I am with mine. Hers recognized her voice and can be controlled by just talking to it. Beetee showed us our arrows after dropping Wiress off at her station where she repaired broken weaponry and electronics used in Command. As Catnip and I stood side by side shooting arrows, I felt the familiar comforting feeling of my hunting partner beside me and hoped she felt it too.


	10. Chapter 10

Katniss was at my side as we walked to the hovercraft that would take us to District Eight. Between gazing at her in her Mockingjay outfit and my bow, I had to remember to watch where I was going. Finnick came running out trying to join us, but Katniss headed him off telling him something about a trident. He ripped off his hospital gown and thankfully he had on underwear and more importantly Katniss didn't want his body. That gave me hope.

Boggs explained what we were doing on the way over to Eight. Katniss stiffened when he mentioned a hospital. I reached out for her hand, but she moved it off the table to clutch her bow. We landed in Eight and walked to the hospital. The stench was horrible. I could sense Katniss steeling herself to go into the putrid building. Watching her interact with the patients made my heart soar and ache at the same time. Anger burned inside of me that the Capitol could cause this suffering to innocent people, but I found myself loving Katniss more and more as she ignited hope in each peron's eyes.

"You did alright, Catnip." I whispered as I took her elbow once we were out of the hospital. She nodded. We were halfway back to our own hovercraft when we heard Capitol crafts overhead. "CATNIP!" I hollered.

"THEY'RE TARGETING THE HOSPITAL!" Katniss raged. She ripped out the earpiece used to connect her to Haymitch and Plutarch before running to a shed where other rebel leaders were shooting at the craft. I followed her as we climbed a ladder to the roof. "GEESE!" Katniss hollered to me. I knew what she meant. We had a system where we could pick off a whole flock of geese. _My hunting partner was back! My Catnip was back!_ We used almost all our arrows bringing down those damn crafts, but yet the hospital was not spared.

"Katniss - KATNISS!" I screamed as she took off running toward the hospital. Muscles burning, I ran past her and then stopped as I surveyed the building that was engulfed in a fireball. Katniss stopped running and I gave her a sad look. _It's too late, Catnip. _

The camera crew stared at us and the burning building. I looked at Cressida, the producer, and her eyes were locked on Katniss' eyes that blazed with angry grey fire. "If we burn, you'll burn with us!"

We ran back to the craft as another explosion shook the ground. "CATNIP!" I screamed as she fell twisting her ankle. Boggs beat me to picking her up. "DAMN IT, BOGGS! YA DROP HER, IMA KILL YOU!" I screamed after my commanding officer. "YA HEAR ME?"

"Yes, Soldier Hawthorne." Boggs called back calmly before Katniss threw up all over him. We climbed back into the hovercraft. "Sit down."

"Yessir." I muttered as he settled Catnip in my arms after securing her neck with a neckbrace. "Thank you." He said nothing but got out the first aid kit and began tending to her ankle after evaluating her head injury. "Head bump?"

"Concussion." Boggs said. He lifted her eyelids and checked her pupils with a penlight. "Plutarch, radio the hospital, please."

"Yessir." Plutarch replied. Haymitch was cursing and chugging down a bottle of alcohol. _How the hell did he get that on here?_ I asked. "Don't ask, Gale." Plutarch said. "Are you hurt, son?" I shrugged.

"I'm fine." I muttered. I cradled Catnip in my arms as she slept. "I got ya, Catnip. I got ya." I whispered. When we landed, I gently laid Catnip on a stretcher before grabbing one of the siderails and nodding to the medics. They said nothing as I sprinted with them back to the hospital.

"You're fast, soldier." One of the medics huffed after we transfered Catnip to an examination table in the trauma unit. That's when I realized I had set the pace. We left the room after the doctors took over.

"Thank you, sir. She's my girl." I muttered. The medic smiled at me.

"I can tell." I nodded. Prim escorted me to the bed Katniss would use to recover. As I fluffed the pillows on the bed, I hoped that someday my Catnip could tell that she was my girl too.


	11. Chapter 11

"Thanks, Gale." Sarah, the aide in the Victors' unit said as I helped her transfer a sleeping Catnip from the stretcher to her bed. "So we're back again." I sighed and nodded in reply. "She has a concussion and she's mainly here for monitoring." I nodded. Sarah checked Catnip's vital signs before leaving the room.

"Hey, Catnip." I whispered brushing some hair out of her face. Hand trembling, I reached out to hold her hand. She squeezed me back and I hesitated not knowing whether she'd become aggressive like the last time she had come from a combat situation to the hospital. Then again, she had come from the arena to District Thirteen with no idea what was happening. "Catnip." I whispered. "I'm here for you." I squeezed her hand gently again before her eyes fluttered open. Her grey eyes seemed clouded over in her dazed state. She sighed and I followed knowing later she probably wouldn't remember that I had visited.

"Peeta." She whispered before falling asleep. Sighing again, I walked out of her cubicle without telling my Catnip goodbye.

"She's back again?" Beetee asked out in the hallway. I looked and did a double-take. Beetee was walking holding onto the handrails on the wall while holding onto a gait belt around Wiress' waist with the other. "Wiress, that's ten steps." He let go. Wiress gave him a wary look. "Honey, you're supposed to do this by yourself." Wiress took several tentative steps on her own. Beetee gently encouraged her saying how strong she was.

"You both are looking better." I commented as the three of us began walking down the hallway.

"Thank you, son." Beetee said smiling. "How's Katniss this time around?" I paused and sighed.

"Oblivious." I said honestly. "It's like - I don't matter." I sniffed and looked away. A small hand took mine. Large eyes reflected worry as Wiress studied my face. "I want to matter to her." I whispered.

"I know." Beetee said. He smiled at his wife who was humming happily to herself as she walked independently down the hallway. "Dr. Aurelius told me - he wasn't sure how much Wiress would remember - about the Games - skill wise - and - even about her life." Beetee paused and looked down at the tile floor. "Her brain injury could've so easily erased the 20 years we had -" He whispered before choking down a sob. "I don't know what I would've done, Gale." I nodded. "Son, your Katniss sees you as an ally. Treasure it. Treasure anytime that you and her are together as allies or friends." I nodded. "I know you want more, son. I know you do." He reached up and patted my shoulder. We were pulled out of our thoughts by an impatient humming. "Hon, the old man had to stop and rest, but you're fine." He called. Wiress turned around slowly to face us. "Baby, keep going I'll catch up." I smiled.

"You're walking just fine, Mrs. Tesla." I said. Wiress smiled at me. She walked toward the wall before sitting down.

"Are you done for this time, Wiress?" The physical therapist asked getting up from her chair by the nurses' station. "You made it ten feet further than yesterday. Good job." She smiled at Wiress before helping her to her feet. She held onto the railing before latching onto Beetee. I looked away for privacy as they shared a kiss. "Are you lovebirds going to walk back to the Victors' unit together?" The therapist teased good naturedly.

"Yes we are." Beetee said. "Honey, there. Hold on. I have my hand right here - yes. That's my wire. That's it, love." Beetee's gentle voice brought tears to my eyes as I left the hospital. I still wanted Katniss and I to have what the Teslas had with their relationship, but I began to give myself the smallest amount of credit: Even though I was far from perfect, I was slowly helping Katniss recover by being the best friend and ally that I could.


	12. Chapter 12

"There you are, son!" Plutarch cheered clapping me on the shoulder. "You and the Mockingjay!" I smiled at him as we watched the propo the video team had edited.

"Nice work." Boggs said smiling.

"Who's idea was it to have them take down the Capitol aircraft?" Coin asked. Boggs nodded. "Very well. It turned out." I made a mental note to thank Boggs for covering Catnip and my behinds for our split-second decision to get into combat. We discussed the propo more. "Soldier Hawthorne?"

"Yes, Madame President?" I asked, my legs turning to jelly as the President herself addressed me.

"Do you believe that the Mockingjay is mentally stable enough to participate in future propos involving combat?" I gulped.

"Yes, ma'am." I said. "Her hunting instincts take over." I explained simply. _My girl comes back._

Katniss came in briefly to look at the propo before it went on air. She went back to the hospital and I stayed in Command. Everyone cheered when Beetee got it up on the broadcast. After it was over, I pulled my thoughts away from replaying hunting the aircraft with my Catnip when Caesar Flickerman came on the air. This time his Capitol cronies hadn't bothered to do Peeta's makeup as he looked like he was beaten an inch away from his life. "Damn."

"Yes, Soldier Hawethorne?" Boggs asked.

"Ya think Katniss saw that?" I asked slowly. "If she did, she ain't gon' be happy." When I was angry, my Seam accent came through even though I spoke normally around my commanding officers and the leaders of the rebellion.

"And why does that bother you?" Coin asked.

"Because, Madame President, she will loose her focus." I explained choosing my words carefully. "She sees Peeta Mellark and she can't stop thinking about him. Meaning she doesn't think about the revolution. About her role as Mockingjay."_ About me._ Coin nodded.

"Soldier Hawethorne, as her hunting and now combat partner," I huffed inwardly. "I expect you to assist The Mockingjay with keeping her mental focus on the revolution. None of us are to mention Mr. Mellark's televised appearance tonight. That is an order."

"Yes, Ma'am." I said along with everyone else, trying to keep the anger from dripping from my voice. We were dismissed. "Aw, _DAMN!" _I grumbled before punching the wall. Hard.

"Gale?" A tired voice asked behind me. "What's the matter, son?"

"Catnip will be _pissed_ at me if she finds out we done hid the broadcast -" I fumed. "She gonna flip either way! I done _told them..." _I sighed. "Sorry." I muttered.

"Yeah, I know." Beetee said quietly. "I know. Coin is trying to protect Katniss, but she'll see it as deception." I nodded. "I tried hiding some of Plutarch's plan from Wiress before the Quell." I raised my eyebrows.

"How did she take it?" Beetee chuckled as he had a far away look on his face.

"Her exact words were, 'Beetee, you are doing the most important engineering project without me -' She left the vegetables on the stove, slammed a box of mac and cheese on the counter and headed down to her workroom." I laughed.

"None too pleased, was she?" Beetee shook his head. He chuckled but his eyes behind his glasses reflected sadness.

"She also locked me out of the bedroom, but left the scratchiest blankets in the house nicely folded for my use on the couch." I sighed. "But you know, she forgave me. I woke up the next day to her singing while holding a tray of warm cinnamon rolls and tea for us. She knew I was trying to protect her - and she knew I was scared too."

"Yeah." I said. "I'm scared, Beetee. If she can't pull this off -"

"I know, son." Beetee replied. "C'mon. Let's get some rest." I walked with him out of Command. He went to his compartment a short way down the hallway and I walked back to my unit's barracks. I would just have to see how my Catnip took things the next day or so.


	13. Chapter 13

"Gale?" Katniss bore her grey eyes into me as we sat at the dining hall table two days after the not-so-secret propo ran. "Have you heard anything about Peeta?" I sighed as she repeated her question. Katniss scowled.

"Katniss," I began. Her face hardened. _Damn!_ I knew no matter what, she would not listen to me. "It was an order. Not to tell you." She grabbed her tray and began stomping away from me. "Katniss?" I jogged after her.

"I TRUSTED YOU, GALE!" Katniss screamed as we neared the tray drop off. "Why did you lie to me? WHY?"

"I - Coin wanted to keep The Mockingjay safe." How I wished I could have snared those words before they reached Katniss' ears. "I mean - I - damn."

"Is that ALL I AM TO YOU, GALE?" She screamed.

"No, Catnip!" I protested. She practically threw her tray into the dirty dishes slot. "I done wanted to tell you, but Coin -"

"If Coin told ya to jump off a bridge," Katniss snarled.

"Yes! I would do it! _To protect you_, _Catnip_," I screamed. My comunicuff buzzed. As a reflex, I checked it and was rewarded with a look of pure hatred from Catnip.

"There's Coin. She has access to you. I only hope I have access to you as well." Katniss said mournfully and melodramatically before stomping away. The rest of the dining hall was dead silent as they gave me accusatory glares. _You hurt our Mockingjay._

"Y'all mind?" I asked loudly before slamming open the exit doors. "DAMN IT!" I screamed to no one in particular. _Command ASAP._ Coin's message blinked at me. I hit a button indicating I had acknowledged it. A commotion awaited me at the doors of Command. _  
_

"Hon, you can't go in." Beetee said gently prying Wiress' fingers away from the armrest of his wheelchair. "I'm sorry." Wiress whimpered and shook her head She was clinging to Beetee's chair and kept pointing to the doors leading to the meeting room. She opened her mouth and tried to speak, but garbled sounds came out. "Hon, I -" Beetee began before Wiress shook him off and opened the doors to Command.

"I told you not to bring her!" Coin called angrily from inside the meeting room. She walked up to the doorway. "Mrs. Tesla," She began, sounding like she was addressing a child. "You must stay out."

"She wants in because she has helped me in the weapons room." Beetee explained. "She followed me from the hospital." My blood boiled seeing Coin treating a renowned inventor like she was two years old.

"She helped put together my bow." I said coming to Wiress' defense. "She's been useful to the revolution, madame President."

"Yes, but she's not ready for our meetings." Coin retorted glaring at me. "Beetee will see you after the meeting." Coin said firmly to Wiress before pushing a button on her communicuff. "You should rest in the hospital." She closed the door and we all heard it latch.

"We'll let you know if you can help us with anything, Mrs. Tesla." I said as Wiress' large eyes filled with tears.

"Wiress,I'm sorry, hon." Beetee said reaching for her hand. She pulled her hand away from his armrest and sat on the floor before weeping loudly, her pitiful gaze locked on Beetee. Two nurses' aides came down the hallway with a wheelchair. Wiress allowed herself to be picked up and wheeled to the rehabilitation unit, but made sure her cries were heard down the hallway. "Thank you." Beetee said simply to me as we went into the meeting room.

"We're here to discuss our strategy for The Mockingjay's propos." Coin said as Beetee and I settled into our seats. "Obviously the combat worked, however, she was injured in the process." She glared at me as if I was responsible for protecting her.

"I will make sure I am by her side every second we're in the field, ma'am." I replied teeth clenched. _That is, if she lets me._

"The districts seem to be strengthening their resistance to the Capitol since the last propo." Plutarch said.

"Good." Coin replied. "Now, about Peeta Mellark."

"Well, she saw that one." I blurted out. "And she was not pleased that I saw it and failed to tell her." The room fell silent. _Damn. I done dug myself into a hole._

"Soldier Hawthorne," Coin began icily. "Until Plutarch and I are confident in The Mockingjay's emotional capacity, you will have to protect her." I nodded. "Mr. Tesla," Coin rounded on Beetee. "Until Plutarch and I are confident in your wife's intellectual capacity, we will continue to use her for limited weapons maintenance work."

"I'm guessing that's why she wasn't able to come to the meeting." Beetee said softly. "I understand your stance, Madame President." His soft voice became more forceful. "However, _I_ am confident in my wife's ability to recover from injuries sustained in the arena, as she has done it once before. I ask for your patience and that she be addressed in an age-appropriate way as you treat the rest of us Victors."

"Thank you, Mr. Tesla. Your request will be honored." Coin replied staring coldly at both of us. "Soldier Hawthorne, does The Mockingjay still wish to be reunited with Peeta Mellark?" _Do you really need to rip my heart out, Madame President?_ "Soldier Hawthorne!" Coin snapped.

"Yes ma'am." I said sitting at attention. "Yes, she does wish to be reunited with Peeta." I said quickly. Coin nodded.

"I will tell her that success in her propos will mostly likely result in their reunification." Plutarch suggested. Coin nodded and I knew I couldn't argue. Our meeting adjourned at lunchtime, and I bolted from the room.

"Catnip?" I asked getting in line behind her. She glared at me and got her food in silence. I sighed. We sat at our assigned table. "How was your morning?" I asked.

"Fine." She muttered.

"Did you work on some propos?" Katniss shrugged.

"So what if I did?" She huffed.

"I'm just wondering." I said trying to make light conversation.

"Did you watch more Capitol broadcasts, that you're _not supposed to tell me about?_" Katniss snapped.

"No." I huffed.

"Well, you wouldn't tell me even if you did." She spat before grabbing her tray and stomping away from the table. I gripped my fork and stared at my watery peas as if they were the ones accusing me. A small hand on my arm brought me out of my thoughts. Wiress stood by me and pointed at Katniss' vacant seat.

"You can sit there. Katniss is done eating." I replied. Wiress plopped herself down and wrapped her arms around Beetee sitting next to her.

"Hi there, love." Beetee said as Wiress placed a slobbery kiss on his cheek. "Did you have a good morning?" He asked before nuzzling his face in her hair as she giggled. I decided to give the nerdy lovebirds some time to themselves.

"See you later, Beetee, Wiress." I grunted before throwing my tray away. Jogging to the military gym, I let myself cry. No matter how hard I tried, Katniss was slipping out of my hands. An no matter how I tried, I couldn't get her out of my heart.


	14. Chapter 14

"GALE" A familiar voice called at the door to one of the military weight rooms. I set the long 230 pound dumbbell on the large rack above the bench and got up. Sweat covered my body, settled in the ridges between my muscles, and had pooled under the leather weight lifting belt around my waist. I unhooked it and sprayed it down before hanging it on the hook under the dumbell. Sweat soaked my army issue camouflage briefs.

"Gale," Catnip said again walking toward me. "Ugh it smells in here -" She stared at me, dripping with sweat and in my shoes and briefs (and that's it). _I swear I don't plan__ on Catnip seeing me naked all the time!_ "Um - I - you - uh -" A blush crept up her face. "Propos."

"Thanks." I said. "See ya in Command, Catnip." I walked to the showers after she left. After I was more presentable, I joined everyone in Command. Katniss' eyes flicked up and down my body and I knew she was imagining me in the rec room. I tried to grin too broadly and look goofy in front of Coin and Plutarch. _My muscles done snared my Mockingjay!_ Beetee was situated at the end of the table with his laptop computer next to him. Wiress was sitting next to him, her hand resting on his shoulder. All eyes were on the large screen that took up almost all one wall.

"Mr. Tesla will break into the broadcast to air our latest propo." Coin announced. I smiled encouragingly at Catnip who stared determinedly ahead. I reached for hand that was resting on the table, but she pulled away and wrapped her arms defensively around herself. "Mr. Tesla, thirty seconds." Coin instructed. Wiress hummed softly in Beetee's ear and squeezed his shoulder. He began typing commands on the computer. When he paused, Wiress gently pressed her lips to his cheek before resting her head in the hollow between his shoulder and ear. The broadcast started when the Panem seal flashed across the screen and the anthem played. We got a glimpse of Peeta looking apparently healthy, but his eyes darted around like he was fearful of something.

"Peeta -" Katniss whispered in a pained voice. I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. Suddenly her propo broke in. It was the one we shot in Eight.

"Catnip." I whispered placing a hand on her shoulder. She stared at me warily before pulling away and watching the screen.

"Oh - Peeta -" She whispered. Suddenly his image appeared again. "PEETA!" She gasped loudly over my groan.

"...And you, dead by midnight." Peeta said suddenly. Suddenly he was knocked to the ground. We heard the sounds of Peacekeepers beating him up soundly.

"PEETA! PEETA!" Katniss screamed. The room was in an uproar. Haymitch was the one who shouted sense into us. "Yes! He is warning us!" Katniss pleaded with Coin.

"Very well. We will commence a level five warning." Coin said seconds before a shrill alarm went off. Wiress screamed and latched onto Beetee. He pushed back his chair so she could climb onto his lap.

"Sssh, honey - we'll be ok, my wire." Beetee said soothingly over her cries. "Sssssh, Wiress my love." He kissed her on the cheeks and rubbed her back as she cried into his shoulder. Plutarch grasped the handles of his wheelchair and wheeled them both out of Command.

"Catnip?" I asked. She refused my hand but we walked down to the bunkers together. Once we were there, I watched her making sure she got her instructions as she waited for her mother and Prim. _Prim._ Katniss was searching for Prim in the throngs of people, but also using her hunter's mind.

"PRIM!" Catnip screamed, suddenly realizing where her sister was.

"CATNIP!" I yelled. "C'mon!" We pushed through the crowd and I ran with her to find Prim who was coming down one of the long hallways with her cat. "C'MON, PRIM!" I called. I ran back to the bunker. "DON'T CLOSE THE DOORS! PLEASE! PLEASE! MY CATNIP - THE MOCKINGJAY IS OUT THERE!"

"Thirty seconds only, Soldier, Hawthorne." A security guard said in a dull bored tone. He reached his hand toward the console controlling the heavy protective doors.

"DAMN IT, YA KEEP THE DOORS OPEN TILL SHE COMES BACK, Y'ALL HEAR?" I screamed in his face. He raised his eyebrows at me. "CATNIP, HURRY! NOW!" I screamed down the hallway hearing two sets of footsteps coming toward the door. Catnip dragged Prim down the hallway and pushed her through the door. I grabbed Catnip and yanked her through the door a second before the door closed and latched.

"Get _off_ me, Gale!" Catnip snarled yanking her arms out of my grasp. "PRIMROSE EVERDEEN!" She screamed at Prim.

"Katniss - I had to -" Prim's eyes watered as she held her god ugly cat.

"Prim -" Katniss snarled.

"Catnip - just get her settled." I said quietly. She glared at me, but directed Prim to their quarters. I checked on Ma, Posy, Rory, and Vic in another section of the bunker.

"Rory! Move!" Vic moaned.

"I'm taking up _half!" _Rory protested. I chuckled watching the boys wiggling around on their bunk.

"No you're not!" Vic yelped. "POSY, CUT IT OUT!"

"I be poking Vic!" Posy squealed standing on her and Ma's bunk poking Vic and Rory's mattress between the metal bars of the bottom of their bunk.

"Posy, stop bein' a pest." I said gently scooping her up. "Boys, cool it." I said poking my head over Vic and Rory's bed.

"Hey, Gale, where's Prim and Katniss?" Rory asked enthusiastically.

"Rory loves Prim! Rory loves Prim!" Vic began chanting before he was thumped over the head. "OW!"

"Prim's busy being a medic, bro." I chuckled. "Tell ya what, if Ma don't beat y'all by morning, I'll show ya around, ok?"

"Ok!" The boys chorused. Ma came back with some backpacks for them and settled into bed.

"Gale, you goin' sleep with the soldiers?" Ma asked tiredly.

"Yes'm." I said. "You sleep good, kay, Mama?" I kissed her and settled Posy next to her seconds before the first bomb hit.

"MAMA!" Posy screeched.

"Gale! Gale!" Vic and Rory hollered. Instinctively, I climbed up onto their bunk and held them.

"C'mere, stinkers." I muttered. Boggs came by our quarters a few minutes later. "I'll be right there, sir."

"No, Soldier Hawthorne, your brothers need you." Boggs said smiling at the quivering forms of Vic and Rory who were pressed against my sides.

"Thank you, sir." I said gratefully. As the bombs fell, I wondered how Catnip was doing and willed her to be strong. _If you need me, Catnip, I'm here. I'm here._ Those were my last thoughts as I drifted into a fitful sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Once the bombing slowed down, I spent much of the time keeping Vic, Rory and Posy from running up and down the halls. For the most part. Sometimes I would give in and chase Vic or Posy. "Boo!" Posy squealed jumping onto Katniss' bunk. Katniss was laying on her side curled up, Peeta's pearl in her hand, staring out into nothing.

"Hi, Posy." She said flatly, her grey eyes showing no emotion.

"Ya sick, Kat?" Posy asked concerned. "Ma kiss it make it better." She suggested.

"She's just tired, Pose." I chuckled. "Catnip?" I asked reaching out and wrapping my hand around hers. She pulled away. I sighed. "Ya have enough food? Prim and your ma?" She nodded slowly. "I'm yonder." I pointed in the direction of our bunks. "Ok?" Katniss blinked. Posy's giggles brought me out of my worry for my hunting partner. "Hm." I said with exaggerated confusion as I began walking down the hallway. "I wonder where Posy gone to." I asked loudly. "Guess I gotta hunt ya, girl!"

"Are you hiding?" A gentle voice chuckled as Posy ran into a room squealing.

"Gale be hunting me!" I stopped outside the room to make her think her trail had gone cold.

"Oh really?" Beetee asked laughing. Posy asked him something I couldn't quite hear. "You can sit on her lap." I heard a soft voice humming a happy tune before I went into the room. Posy was sitting on Wiress' lap listening to her hum a song.

"That be pretty!" Posy sighed. Wiress giggled and kissed her on the cheek. "You done have grandbabies?" Beetee and Wiress both blushed, though at forty-six and thirty-eight they were the same age as some grandparents in The Seam. However, stress of the games had both made them appear much older.

"No, my dear." Beetee laughed. Wiress giggled before smiling sadly at her husband.

"Why?" Posy asked as she played with Wiress' shoulder length salt and pepper black hair. I came behind her and scooped her up. "GALE!" Posy shrieked as I blew raspberries on her stomach grinning and tossing her in the air before catching her. I missed just being a goofy big brother.

"Caught, ya, Pose!" I chuckled. "Did she bother you?" I asked Beetee and Wiress. Wiress giggled at Posy.

"No. Not at all." Beetee chuckled. "How's Katniss?" I shrugged.

"I dunno." I muttered. Posy wiggled in my arms. "I'll be back, Beetee. Wiress. C'mon, Pose. It's lunch time."

"Soldier Hawethorne?" Boggs asked. Vic and Rory wolfed down the glop that was supposed to be cooked vegetables.

"Y'all tied. Here." I handed them my slice of bread cut in half for each boy. "Yes, sir?" I asked addressing Boggs. He looked at my brothers with raised eyebrows. "It was the only way they'd eat their vegetables, sir."

"I won, Gale!" Rory proclaimed around a mouthful of bread.

"Gotta go, boys." I muttered before following Boggs to a room that was a makeshift Command headquarters. Plutarch, Coin, Beetee, and a few other leaders of Thirteen sat around a table. Boggs and I joined them.

"We believe the bombing has ceased." Coin said. "I will announce this to the District and we will proceed in relocating the residents. How is the Mockingjay? Can she do a propo for us?"

"I believe you should ask her yourself, Madame President." I said quietly. She nodded and looked toward the door. I got up and went over to Katniss' bunk. "Catnip?" I said quietly. "You're needed in Command. C'mon." She didn't resist as I helped her sit up. _Had she been laying around all this time?_ I thought to myself. She combed her fingers through her hair before putting it in a side braid. Putting my arms around her waist, I pressed her against me. She sighed and rested her head against my chest. "Ready?" She nodded stiffly before pulling away from me. We wordlessly walked to Command. Coin was waiting for her.

"I will do a propo." Katniss said. "Peeta will know I'm alive." I stared down at the table, not wanting to meet her gaze because she would see the hurt in my eyes.

"Very well. We will leave the bunker tomorrow." Coin said. "You are dismissed." We stood as she got up and left the room.


	16. Chapter 16

"Soldier Hawthorne," Boggs called as my platoon ran around the indoor track. The military units were assigned to the workout areas as soon as we had left the bomb shelter. Yet, the rigorous training wasn't enough to keep me from thinking about how my Catnip's propo was going. She had to tell the Capitol that District Thirteen was alive and well.

"Yes, Sir." I called. One look into his anxious face told me that something was wrong.

"Soldier Everdeen -" He began. I groaned as my stomach dropped. _She must've lost it during the propo._

"Hospital?" I asked. Boggs nodded a second before I bolted down the hallways as fast as my arms and legs would take me.

"May I help you?" The nurse at the front desk asked as I screeched to a halt, gasping for air as my hands gripped the edge of the counter.

"Soldier Hawthorne. Katniss is in the Victors' Unit." I panted. Sweat clung to my army issue olive green shirt and shorts. I sniffed my shirt as discretely as possible. _I don't stink too bad. Yet._

"You may go in, sir." The nurse said. I nodded and sped-walked to Katniss' unit. She was laying in bed whimpering in her sleep.

"Catnip." I whispered. Her eyes fluttered open. "Catnip, look at me."

"Gale." She whispered. I pulled down the railing and picked her up, cradling her in my arms. I held her close and rocked her gently as she began weeping. As soon as her breathing was deep and even, I settled her back into bed and pulled up the blankets.

"See ya soon, Catnip." I whispered kissing her on the cheek. Boggs met me outside the hospital. "I'll go, sir." He raised his eyebrows. "I know we're getting Mellark."

"Soldier Hawthorne, this is strictly a volunteer mission." Boggs clarified. "We could still use you here in Thirteen."

"I need to get Mellark." I insisted loudly. I took a deep breath. "For Catnip." I sighed. "She needs him here." Boggs nodded.

"Report to Command at 1400, Hawthorne." He said simply. I nodded and jogged back to Ma's compartment to let her and the kids know I was headed off.

"Soldier Hawthorne, what do you want to tell them in Command?" Boggs asked holding the radio up to my face before the rescue unit left the hovercraft. We had left District Thirteen as soon as Boggs had a battle plan and enough soldiers had volunteered for the mission. The whole process had taken only three hours.

"This is Soldier Hawthorne." I said clearly into the radio. "I am embarking on this mission to rescue the other Victor Rebels so they can aid the rebellion with their knowledge and skills." I paused. "I'm here to rescue Mellark from the clutches of the Capitol." I took a deep breath. "I'm here to rescue Mellark because my Katniss relies on him for strength. Having him close by will assure her of his safety." I paused. "Catnip, I'm getting Peeta for you because I know you can't be the Mockingjay without him." I paused. "Soldier Hawthorne out." I grabbed my rifle, pistol, grenades, and militarized bow and arrows. The other twenty soldiers were grabbing their weapons as well.

"Operation Rescue commence now! Go!" Boggs called as the ramp lowered onto the ground in front of the Maximum Security Prison of the Capitol.

Breaking through the first layer of prison security was relatively easy. Our unit of twenty guys had decimated two guard towers and picked off at least ten Peacekeepers before even arriving at the front door to the facility. I blasted the doors with several explosive tipped arrows. The place swarmed with Peacekeepers, but we managed to take out nearly all of them.

Now we were in the unit where Boggs believed the Victors were being held. "JOHNSON! JUST DO IT!" I screamed. Private Johnson threw the smoke and tear-gas grenade down the hallway of the Rebel Prisoner Unit. I shot at the glass over the control panel to the heavy steel door swearing as the bullets merely dented the glass. "TAKE COVER!" I pulled out an incindiary arrow. _The Capitol prison design team hadn't thought of these._

"Soldier Hawthorne, we're in close quarters, sir." Another soldier said shakily.

"TAKE COVER NOW!" I screamed. "Y'ALL HEAR ME? MOVE!" I launched an arrow at the panel before ducking. An almighty explosion shook the hallway, but the doors were now blasted open. The stench of burning metal mixed with gunpowder filled the air. "MOVE! MOVE! LET'S GO!" I screamed. I loaded more arrows and took out Peacekeepers as they attempted to block us from the maximum security isolation unit. The other soldiers were firing their rifles, creating a constant volley of gunfire. Stowing my bow back in its case, I pulled out my rifle and began shooting at the locks on the doors. "I SHOOT, Y'ALL GRAB THE VICTORS!"

"Yes, Sir!" several voices chorused.

"ALL PRISONERS! TAKE COVER, WE'RE FIRING AT THE LOCKS!" I yelled down the hallway. Suddenly a Peacekeeper grabbed me. "AW, DAMN IT!" I screamed. I began kicking at the guy and punching him in all his pressure points.

"You can't get The Mockingjay's boy, kid." He snarled. My blood boiled before I pulled out a small pistol and shot him point blank in the face. I nearly emptied a whole round into him before blowing apart a door with one of my arrows.

"HELL YEAH!" I screamed before the smoke from the explosion cleared. "_Damn!_" I swore as Peeta Mellark's pure blue eyes locked onto mine with a look that chilled my blood. Behind his dazed look, he was like an aggressive animal that could viciously take down its prey at any time. "Mellark, I'm going to get you off of that table, buddy." I said keeping my voice calm. He was strapped to a table looking eerily calm for being in the middle of a shootout in a maximum security prison. I took out my knife and sliced through the leather straps holding his limbs down. "Let's go." I huffed.

"I'm leaving?" Peeta asked clearly looking dazed. He began wandering around the room. I pulled out a hypodermic syringe filled with tranquilizer, aimed for his upper right arm and threw it before grabbing him and emptying the contents into him. I threw it onto the floor and picked him up. Several others were carrying Johanna Mason out on a collapsable stretcher we had brought. Another soldier was carrying a drugged Annie. I tossed Peeta over my shoulder and began running while taking out Peacekeepers with my pistol and my stash of grenades. Something hit my shoulder, but I sprinted ahead, not stopping until I had laid Mellark on a gurney in the rebel craft and strapped him down. Only then did I allow my burning muscles to relax. _I got him for ya, Catnip._ I thought as the aircraft took off toward Thirteen.

"Gale?" Katniss asked cautiously as the door to my small shower stall at the hospital opened and then shut. I grunted and rinsed off. My shoulder had sturdy stitches in, and I hadn't reacted to the tetanus and antibiotics shots.

"Yeah, Catnip?" I asked. I turned around and nearly toppled over in stall. Katniss had padded silently into my cubicle and was standing against the closed door. "Ya get wet." I whispered noticing the front of her her hospital gown was starting to get wet from the shower. I smiled sheepishly knowing she was seeing not only all of my muscles but well - every part of me in all its glory.

"You brought him back. Peeta." She whispered. I nodded.

"I knew you needed him, Catnip." I said keeping my voice even, hoping the sadness I felt didn't come through.

"Oh - Gale - why?" Catnip asked, her grey eyes searching my face. _Why?_

"Because I - Catnip -" I knew my face said it all. _I will do anything for the one I love. _Catnip held my hands and suddenly pulled herself closer to me. She wrapped her arms around me as the warm water poured over both of us. Her lips found mine and I stroked her hair as we kissed with a firey passion that was love on my part and - desperation or some unnamed yet strong feeling on her part. "Catnip." I whispered as she gently broke the kiss. She ran her hands down my pecs, abs, and across my hips as I rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

"Oh, Gale." Katniss whispered tracing the outlines of my muscles. I smiled into her hair as she kissed me on my pecs. "You brought him back." She whispered onto my skin. "Thank you." I nodded and hoped she would take the tears streaming down my face as water from the shower.

"Careful of my shoulder, Catnip."I chuckled as she put her hands on my shoulders. I turned off the water and held her close. "We'll catch our death of cold in the hospital shower." I whispered before kissing her gently on her neck below her ear. Miraculously, none of the aides noticed Catnip and I walking sopping wet to the laundry basket and pulling on new gowns.

"I'm going to see Peeta now." Katniss said re-braiding her hair. I nodded keeping my face straight so she wouldn't see the pain her choice was causing me.

* * *

Ok, I know the last bit of that wasn't in Mockingjay, but this is going to turn AU after this point. Hope everyone enjoyed anyway!


	17. Chapter 17

I followed my Catnip as she hurried down the hallways of the hospital toward Peeta's room. I knew Boggs and Haymitch were there talking to him. Beetee and Wiress were waiting in the hallway to say hi to him as well. I sat down in the chairs next to them to give my Catnip some privacy.

"Peeta -" Catnip gasped. The door was slightly ajar, so I could hear what was happening. "Oh - Peeta -" The sound of someone gagging had me on my feet and bursting into the room in less than a second.

"CATNIP!" Someone screamed in pure terror. My heart stopped as I watched Peeta's large baker hands around my Catnip's neck, her face quickly turning blue. "GET OFFA HER!" I screamed. Peeta grabbed at me, but I snapped his left wrist. He released Catnip with his right hand before I broke that wrist too and kicked him in the balls. He howled in pain before I began throwing punches into the face. "NEVER. TOUCH. MY. CATNIP. _EVER AGAIN!" _I screamed with each blow. Blood splattered on the wall, his bed, and the floor with each punch I threw into his face.

"HAWTHORNE!" Haymitch yelled yanking me back. I stared at my right hand, dripping with Peeta's blood as Peeta shook his head, blood streaming from his nose onto the floor. Haymitch and Boggs grabbed him and restrained him even as he tried to fight them.

"Katniss. Is. A Mutt." Peeta hissed, his teeth clenched as angry blue eyes bore into me.

"Ya listen good, boy." I growled staring into his face. "I done rescued ya for my Catnip. Do not. Make me hurt you again." I cracked my knuckles before waving my right fist under his nose.

"Gale?" Prim gasped running into the room. "KATNISS! WHAT HAPPENED!" She gasped seeing her sister laying motionless on the floor. I would've thought she was dead but I saw her moving her arms. Kneeling down, I felt for a pulse and leaned my head close to her ear.

"I'm here, Catnip." I whispered. "Damn Breadboy - she's breathing, Prim." I said to Prim as she knelt down to examine her sister. "Get something for her neck, He done strangled her good." Prim got a neck brace on her sister and I helped her lift Katniss onto a stretcher. A sobbing figure hurried after us crying. "Wiress?" I asked as several other medics helped Prim push Katniss into a trauma room. Wiress grabbed my hand and pointed at the door crying, one hand around her neck. "Oh. Wiress um - I don't think - I think she'll recover fully." Beetee walked up to us and wrapped his wife in a hug as she cried. "I didn't realize you two saw the whole thing." I stammered.

"That's ok, son. You did what you did to save your girl." He sighed. "I - I wish I could've defended Wiress the way you defended your Katniss in there." I nodded. Beetee sighed. "We all have the rest of the day off. Why don't you come to our compartment, son."

"I'll check on Catnip first." I said just as the doors opened.

"She's sleeping. She'll be ok." Prim said at the head of the stretcher. "Gale, go and rest. I'm going to watch over my sister." She said, determined fire in her blue eyes.

"Ok, Prim." I said gently. "Thanks. Take care of her for me." The medics paused with Katniss in the hall so I could reach for her hand through the railing and give it a reassuring squeeze.


	18. Chapter 18

Wiress opened the door when I knocked on the Teslas' compartment. She hummed and waved me in. She giggled and knocked on the bathroom door.

"I'll be out in a minute, hon!" Beetee called. Wiress offered me her desk chair and she handed me Beetee's notebook. Her face lit up as I turned the pages looking in awe at his work.

"Wow." I said. "You married a smart man, didn't you?" I asked. Wiress giggled and blushed patting me on the shoulder. A prototype model of something was out of place on Beetee's desk and Wiress put it back in a corner and arranged some books in a certain way. I handed her the notebook and she put it on his desk. She beamed as the door opened and Beetee came out of the bathroom. He sat down in his desk chair and Wiress sat on the edge of her desk. She reached out and placed her hand on Beetee's shoulder. "Hello, my dear." He said smiling. "Did she show you my notebook?" I nodded as Wiress giggled. "So, how are you doing, Gale?" I sighed.

"I - I want Katniss to be mine." I whispered before choking up. Wiress hummed a gentle tune and patted my shoulder. "She visited me after the rescue mission." I paused. "We kissed." Wiress smiled at me. "I - I love her - but - she - she was happy I rescued Peeta. She loves him. And - I can't let her go."

"Well, luckily I never had to compete with anyone else for my Wiress." Beetee said smiling. Wiress blushed and giggled as her husband reached for her hand. They grasped hands and smiled lovingly at each other. "But, I had to wait, didn't I, honey?" She hummed and smiled at him. "She had a long recovery after her Games." Beetee sighed. "They almost lost her after her first Games." Beetee wiped away tears and Wiress squeezed his hand gently. "We had - a bit of an intense relationship before her Games, didn't we, hon?" Wiress giggled again and nodded. "Gale, I was prepared to care for her as a person that would always be on the edge of consciousness. I - I still was after the Quell - I - no matter what the Games did to my love, I promised I would be there for her." Wiress slid off the desk and knelt down by Beetee. She kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck as he cried. "Gale - son - I've nearly lost her so many times -" Tears were streaming down Wiress' face as well. "Honey - I'm not mad at you, you know that." He whispered into Wiress' hair before she nodded and kissed him.

"I - No matter what Katniss decides - I want to say that I would support her - but it's hard - it's so hard." I choked out.

"I know, son." Beetee said tiredly. "I see more than you think I do, and I'm here for you. Both of us are here for you. And Katniss."

"Thank you." I said. Wiress tugged on Beetee's hand and hummed rubbing her neck and pointing to me and then the door.

"Oh. You can go with him to check on Katniss." Beetee said. Wiress pointed to his desk. "No, I think I'll take a break from inventing." He kissed her before she took my hand and led me out of the compartment.

We got to Katniss's bedside as she was waking up. Prim smiled at us. "Hey, Catnip." I said.

"She's pretty sedated." Prim said holding her sister's hand. Wiress planted a kiss on Catnip's cheek before her eyes fluttered open.

"Prim?" Katniss croaked. "Gale?"

"We're here, Catnip." I said gently. Wiress smiled at me and touched her lips before pointing to Katniss. "I bet you're relieved she can still talk. Believe me, we all are." Wiress nodded.

"Where's Peeta? What happened?" Katniss asked.

"Sssh, Katniss, don't talk." Prim ordered. A glare from her big sister caused her to roll her eyes. "Ok, Gale. Explain."

"Catnip - Peeta strangled you."

"Why?" Katniss croaked. "Why? He loves me."

"I dunno, Catnip. I done beat him for ya." Katniss glared at me.

"Gale -"

"Catnip, he coulda killed ya and I - I can't let that happen. I love you, Catnip." I said, the words tumbling out of my mouth. Catnip looked at Prim who nodded and to Wiress who nodded vigorously, tears streaming down her face. "Do you understand?" I asked softly. She nodded. "I - will protect you -" I looked at Wiress who smiled sadly at Katniss. "Like Beetee protects Wiress."

"I - I see that, Gale." Catnip said. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"Thank you, Catnip." I whispered before wiping my eyes. Wiress hummed and patted me on the shoulder before we walked back to her and Beetee's compartment.


	19. Chapter 19

Again, there's another scene in here that's definitely *not* in Mockingjay, but it still works with the story. Enjoy!

* * *

Once Catnip's neck healed, she requested to go to District Two along with Beetee and a few others who had the task of bringing it out of the Capitol's clutches. Beetee, Wiress, and a few high up army officials stayed near The Nut, the militarized mountain at the center of the district. "Oh, good. I'm glad you brought a repair engineer." Lyme, the rebel leader of Two said as we gathered in their command center. "We've tried to fix things, but well -" She held up what looked like part of a missile launcher held together by duct tape. Wiress tutted and shook her head before Lyme put the equipment into her hands.

"She won't let you down." Beetee said proudly. Wiress blushed but hummed eagerly as she looked the machine over. "Hon? Do you want an office here?" She nodded but pulled on his hand. "Oh. Could we share an office?" Lyme nodded.

"So, the Teslas will be our weapons and machinery repair support." She said marking off a list. "Soldier Hawethorne, you work with The Mockingjay, correct?" I nodded. "We were thinking you two could travel the rebel strongholds around the district." I gulped. "You will have a squad for ground support if needed." I nodded.

"May I be allowed to hunt?" Katniss asked looking at her bow lovingly before looking out the windows at the forest full of game.

"Yes." Lyme said. "We figured that would be how you and Hawthorne would get provisions."

"You are correct, ma'am." I said. "Thank you." Lyme spoke with me about where we would go first. I beckoned Katniss to look at the map, but she stared out the window, a far away look on her face. I sighed inwardly knowing she was thinking about Peeta. _I'll try to help us win this to get him back for ya. _"C'mon, Catnip. We have a destination." Lyme wished us well as we left the command post. Beetee and Wiress saw us out. I looked back as they stood in the doorway, their hands entwined. They were a solid team bound by their mutual feelings of love. Even though Catnip and I weren't like that, my love for her pushed me to stay by her side even in this new district, and even when she was longing for Mellark.

The rain was steady as I hunted with Catnip a week after being in Two. We had visited the rebel strongholds to strengthen morale. I talked weapons with the soldiers while my Catnip walked around in her Mockingjay outfit as a reminder of why we were fighting the Capitol. After shooting some game for the small village where we were staying, I guided Catnip to the abandoned cabin where we were staying. "Gale?" Catnip asked as we trooped into the cabin, puddles of water forming at our feet. "I'll start a fire."

"Nah, you don't have to -" I began.

"_Gale?_" Grey eyes stared hard at me pleading for something. Catnip was desperate for my help with - well something. _I'm here for ya, Catnip._

"Ok." I muttered. She got some firewood and began building a pyramid with it in the fireplace. Rubbing two sticks together, she got a spark going. "I had a match, Catnip." She shrugged and stood up admiring her work as two logs caught ablaze.

"Your clothes, Gale. They're soaked." Catnip said lifting the bottom of my shirt and pulling it up, running her palms along the sides of my body. She wrung out the shirt and threw it over a chair. I caught her gaze as her eyes once again roved up and down my body. "Gale," She said quietly as I turned to walk toward a wall we were using as a privacy screen. She turned me back toward her by grabbing my hips before pulling my pants down, massaging my leg muscles and inner thighs as she stood up.

"Catnip?" I asked as she put my pants over the chair before coming back to me, resting her hands on my hips and tracing the outlines of my leg muscles. As much as I enjoyed her enjoying my muscles, it was still a touch awkward. "I don't see no towel." I muttered. She shrugged before adding her clothes to the pile by the fire and then grabbing my hand leading me to the lumpy mattress that she had been using for the past few nights.

"Gale," She whispered laying on my stomach, wrapping her limbs around me. "I need you."

"Oh - Catnip -" I whispered. "Ya really mean it?" I asked tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and gently playing with her side-braid. Her lips crashed against mine in a desperate answer.

Hours later, the fires in us and in the fireplace had burnt themselves down to mere warm embers. "Catnip." I whispered kissing her as she slept molded against me. I got up and checked on the fire and our clothes which were quite dry. I came back to the - our bed, and pulled a blanket over us as I climbed in next to my Catnip. "I love you." I whispered against her skin before drifting off to sleep again.

"Gale?" I opened my eyes and sad grey eyes met mine.

"Catnip, what's wrong?" I asked worried holding her close.

"Last night, you said the war is almost over." Catnip said quietly, searching my face with her eyes.

"Yes." I said. "Yes, Catnip. District Two is almost ours. That's why we're here." I smiled. "We're winning because of you, my Catnip." I said kissing her perfect face and neck.

"Gale -" Catnip asked hesitantly. I stopped and looked into her eyes. "I -" She gulped. I wiped a tear away from her face with my fingers. I took one of her hands and laced my fingers with hers with one hand and wrapped her in a secure hug with my other arm and a leg. "I just want the war to be over. For Peeta to be alright." I closed my eyes as I felt the whole mountain range of District Two come crashing down on top of me. "Gale -" Katniss' voice broke. "Gale - I'm -"

"What did you need from me, Katniss?" I asked slowly. "Last night? I done gave you - everything. Of me."

"I don't know." Katniss whispered. She began crying. "I don't know." I wanted to push her off our bed, out of the cabin, but I couldn't. She was still The Mockingjay and I was still her hunting partner. More importantly, I couldn't do that to her. I still loved her. Instead I held her close to me as she cried.

"Let's go, Catnip." I said once the sun high in the sky. We dressed in silence. She grasped my hand and we walked in silence toward The Nut where the rest of the rebellion leaders were waiting.


	20. Chapter 20

Lyme, Beetee, and other rebellion leaders were in the District Two command room. Beetee was standing behind Wiress, resting a hand on her shoulder as she made some final repairs to the console at the front of the long table that was in front of a large display screen. Wiress hummed to herself as she replaced the touch screen of the console before beckoning Lyme to the screen. Lyme nodded and touched the console a second before the display screen showed a digitized cut-away schematic of The Nut. "Thank you for your repair work, Mrs. Tesla." Lyme said. Wiress hummed and sheepishly nodded before staring mesmerized at the screen. Beetee wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on her cheek. They clasped hands instinctively as they sat down at the table next to each other.

"You did beautifully, love." Beetee whispered in Wiress' ear. I sat down next to Beetee and pulled out a chair for Katniss who decided to perch on the windowsill and look out the window at The Nut. Lyme went over the schematic of The Nut highlighting different things such as the the tunnel system, the ventillation system, and the storage areas as they lit up on the display screen. We then got into a discussion on how to break into The Nut and rid the Capitol of its last military stronghold.

Wiress hummed excitedly and pointed to the display screen. Beetee prodded her and pointed to a small touch screen device about seven by five inches across. "Use this, hon." Beetee whispered. His gentle whispers and prodding kept Wiress focused on what she was doing. Another rebel explained to Katniss and I that the Teslas had refurbished the little tablet PC as a text to speech device for Wiress' communication needs.

_Ventilation__._ A computerized voice said from the small screen. Wiress smiled at Lyme.

"How do you intend to work with the ventilation, Mrs. Tesla?" Wiress hummed a small tune and studied the main display. She squinted and pointed at one of the vents that was lit up in the diagram.

"Zoom in and pull up a close up of the vents on the split-screen mode." Beetee directed. Lyme moved her hands over the display console. "Take your time, hon." Beetee whispered into Wiress' ear before clasping her hand in his. Wiress hummed some more and began typing on her small screen.

_Soot. To block their vision._

"That is a good idea, thank you, Mrs. Tesla." Lyme said. "If we block them, maybe we can launch a full on assault."

"Unfortunately, that won't work." A rebel soldier from Two pointed out. I saw Wiress' face fall a bit before Beetee put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "They have radar to detect aircraft or manpower that would put the soot into the system." We all nodded. However, Wiress' idea gave me something to work with. _They'd be trapped. _I smiled. _Trapped -_ **Snared.** I grinned like an idiot. Catnip stared at me warily knowing I was planning something. Her angry gaze met mine and she shook her head. _You're hunting them. In cold blood. _I shrugged and stared hard at The Nut. _Look what they done to you. To Breadboy. They deserve it._ I clenched my teeth. A hand touched my shoulder and I whirled around. Katniss shook her head. _Find another solution._ I shook my head no before Katniss huffed and went back to her perch on the windowsill. _So much for support from my Catnip. Oh well._

"We could cause an avalanche." I said suddenly staring at the window. Catnip scowled at me. I glanced at her with a half-apologetic glance then stared hard at The Nut. "Bury them like they done buried us in misery." I said between my teeth, cracking my knuckles. Katniss let out a hiss of disapproval and Wiress made a small noise. "I'd like y'all's opinion." I said staring hard at Katniss. Wiress hummed and Beetee prompted her to use her tablet again.

_They will be mad._ She paused and stared at the diagram and then out the window. _They will come after._ Her eyes got wider and she put her arm protectively around Beetee. Lyme nodded slowly.

"They will come after us anyway." Lyme replied soberly. "It's no secret we are here. The question is, can they mobilize to attack our command base here or are they planning on attacking Thirteen?"

"We gotta do it." I blurted out.

"NO!" Katniss snapped. "Gale, you are causing a mining accident!" She yelled at me. "Ya kill em like they killed our fathers!"

"Well, serves 'em right!" I yelled. "They done tried killin' ya TWICE, Catnip!" I yelled slamming my fist on the table. _"I AIN'T LETTIN' THEM TRY AGAIN!"_ I whirled around. "For any of ya. We done _told_ each other we're taking the Capitol _**down**. _This is the only way." I sat down slowly. "Sorry for the outburst, ma'am." I said to Lyme.

"I'll let it slide, Soldier Hawthorne." Katniss marched to the windowsill and sat on it, her back turned toward me.

"Well, keep the exit open." Katniss muttered. "Give them a way out."

"And we will shoot them when they come out?" Lyme asked puzzled. Katniss shrugged. "Alright, all the rebels that wish to stay and work on this project may stay in the conference room. Meeting adjourned." No one moved. I looked at Katniss who was looking at Lyme suspiciously. She stayed perched on the windowsill, but folded her arms across her chest. I knew she would stay silent throughout the entire meeting. After five minutes no one moved. "Alright then. Soldier Hawthorne, explain your strategy."

"They're like a pack of wild dogs living in the mountain." I explained. "We fly in right quick and bomb the mountain, creating avalanches. That covers up the vents and smokes them up real good like Mrs. Tesla suggested." I paused. "That rock will cover up almost all the entrances. There will be one left for people to get to."

"What do you estimate will be the survival time for the Capitol soldiers inside?" Lyme asked.

"I reckon not long." I said. "No light and also no air, ma'am." I stared at the mountain with resolve ignoring the huffing from Catnip.

"How would we get the aircraft low enough to begin the avalanches?" Lyme asked the group. Wiress hummed and looked at her. Lyme nodded.

_Block radar._ Wiress replied. She smiled and gestured at the laptop Beetee opened. _My Beetee._

"Yes, I've been hacking into their system the last few days and I can block their radar for approximately ten minutes." Wiress hummed happily and beamed at her blushing husband.

_My Beetee._ Wiress typed again and gestured to her husband, the diagram of The Nut on the display screen, and then back at Lyme.

"Oh, right. Wiress volunteered me to work with you to work out the structure of The Nut." Beetee said blushing further. Wiress looked about ready to wrap her husband in a hug, but instead smiled and gripped his hand with both of hers. I looked down at my hands wishing someone would hold them to stop them from trembling. However, one look into Katniss' hardened face told me there was nothing but cold revenge waiting to comfort me.


	21. Chapter 21

"We're in." Beetee announced typing rapidly on his laptop several houra later. Wiress sat next to him, her left arm draped over his shoulders, and her right hand resting on Beetee's chest. She nestled her chin between his shoulder and neck. He paused and stared at the screen smiling. Wiress whispered kisses against his neck. "It's working, hon." He whispered. I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort. Katniss sat in her windowsill saying nothing. Several small rebel aircrafts appeared and fired on The Nut. My knuckles gripped the table as I watched out the window. _Die, damn Capitol scum! DIE!_ Wiress had her eyes closed, her face buried in Beetee's neck. "Their electronic infrastructure is malfunctioning." Beetee said reading the screen. "And it's completely out." He sighed and closed his laptop before wrapping his arms around Wiress. "Now we wait, hon." He whispered kissing her on the cheek. "We just wait in each other's arms."

"Check the train station." Lyme directed. Katniss suited up in her Mockingjay outfit and I followed behind her. She said nothing to me as I followed her down to the train station where the soldiers would have appeared. She began talking to a lone ragged soldier about her father being in a mining accident. A scraggly line of reinforcements were behind the lone soldier. _Are they rebels?_ I thought. As discretely as I could, I unlocked the safety off my M-16 and felt around my belt for my grenades.

"Move back, Catnip. _Move back!"_ I hissed behind an abandoned shed near The Nut as the soldier ambled closer to my Catnip. _"Catnip! Dammit!"_ I hissed. Suddenly the soldier pulled out a pistol. I caught a glimpse of a camera crew in the background. _This wasn't supposed to a propo. Damn! _"Reinforcements." I hissed into my radio before a gunshot went off. I loaded my bow and let an incindiary arrow fly. The bastard was torched a second later. "CATNIP! AW DAMMIT! CATNIP!" I screamed running toward her crumpled body on the rocky granite ground. I heard the sounds of other sets of combat boots, but I had eyes only for my Mockingjay.

"Gale -" Catnip gasped before coughing up blood. I swore loudly.

"Stay with me, Catnip. Stay with me!" I pleaded kneeling down and cupping her face in my hands.

"It hurts -" A team of medics knelt down next to me. "OW!" Katniss moaned before coughing up more blood and froth. _Please don't die! Please don't let my Mockingjay die!  
_

"Lung puncture. She fractured a rib. Morphine, stat! Get the chest-tube kit!" A medic ordered as she and her crew gathered around Catnip as I held her cold pale hands.

"Look at me, Catnip. Look. At. Me." I stared into Seam grey eyes full of pain. "C'mon, my baby, my Mockingjay - please - please - You gotta get back to Thirteen. To Prim. Stay for her, Catnip." I pleaded stroking her forehead. She let out a strangled cry before her breathing became easier. I winced watching a tube coming out of her ribs fill with blood. The morphine was kicking in. "Catnip. I'm here. I'm not leaving." I whispered before kissing her on her forehead.

"Blood pressure's falling." One of the medics called. "Elevate her feet, put pressure on her abdomen, we have a closed internal bleed!" I helped them strap her to a gurney before we ran back to a waiting hovercraft.

"How many units of blood do we have in the emergency kit?" One of the medics asked once they settled Catnip onto a stretcher and the craft took off with us, Beetee, and Wiress back to Thirteen.

"Two." Her colleauge replied.

"Use mine." I said.

"Soldier Hawthorne,"

"Dammit, I would spill every drop I have for her, _USE IT!"_ I yelled rolling up my sleeve and balling my fist up to show him my veins on my arm. He pricked my finger and put a few drops into a small vial. He shook it and ran a brief test.

"You are a match, Soldier Hawthorne." He said. I nodded. I whispering her name with every squeeze of my fist as my blood flowed into the transfusion bag. "There. That's a bag." He tied it off before disposing of the needle that was in my arm. A third medic wrapped my arm in a pressure compress. I brought my blood over to my Catnip and the medic caring for her hung it on a pole and inserted the tubing into Catnip's vein.

"She will be stable with this last unit of blood. Thank you, Soldier Hawthorne." The medic said sincerely. I knelt down and held my Catnip's hand.

"My Catnip. My girl." I whispered kissing her cheek as she slept, pulled under by painkillers and sedatives. "You're gonna make it." I rested my lips against her neck and felt the pulse of her and my blood coursing through her veins.

"Rest, Gale." Beetee said behind me. I clutched my Catnip's hand tighter as I tried in vain to fight the tears streaming out of my eyes. "Son, you donated a unit of blood. Drink some liquids and rest."

"My Catnip." I whispered.

"I know, son." Beetee said gently, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I didn't want to leave my Wiress after her Games, but I had to sleep, son. Up you go." I felt a smaller hand begin lifting me under my armpit. The Teslas helped me to my feet. Wiress hummed and handed me a bottle of some sort of electrolyte drink. "We'll stay with her." Wiress nodded and knelt down by Catnip. She stroked my Catnip's face and began humming a gentle tune. "Lay down now."

"Yes, sir." I whispered before getting into a sleeping bag a few feet away. I watched Beetee talking to the medics as Wiress hummed gently to my girl. We did what we could in District Two and hopefully it would be ours. As I drifted off to sleep, I looked at the empty bag of my blood that was now keeping my Catnip alive. However, saving her that close to death was no guarantee that she would still someday be mine.

* * *

A/N: In Mockingjay, Katniss sees herself get shot on national TV, so here was that scene from Gale's perspective. In the hospital, she learns that her spleen was ruptured and her ribs were bruised or broken. That's some pretty serious trauma, so she needed an epic medical rescue.


	22. Chapter 22

"Gale, the surgeon's coming." Beetee said coming up to me and putting a hand on my elbow. I had been pacing the waiting room for six hours. Beetee had stayed with me the first hour before sleeping. Wiress had stayed in the room humming gently while watching me pace. "She looks happy." Beetee remarked before Katniss' surgeon opened the door to the waiting room.

"Mr. Hawthorne?" She asked. I nodded and shook her hand.

"Dr. Rowe." I said. "Thank you." She smiled.

"Katniss will be ok. She is stable and received one more blood transfusion during the operation. We're keeping her sedated for the first twenty four hours as she tends to get restless after trauma and we don't want her pulling anything." I nodded.

"Did you speak to her ma and her sister?" I asked. Dr. Rowe nodded.

"Yes. In fact, Mrs. Everdeen is working with a nurse who works in the Victor's unit and Prim is taking the evening off to stay with her sister. The Everdeens are not allowed to care for Katniss in any nursing capacity as medical practitioners typically do not treat family members." I nodded. "You may see her." Dr. Rowe led me to the now familiar Victors' unit. Prim was sitting by Katniss' bed. "She's getting oxygen just as a way to keep her comfortable." Dr. Rowe explained as I looked at the tubes under Katniss' nose. She had two IV poles by her bed bearing various medications dripping into her system.

"Heya, Prim." I said ruffling Prim's blonde braids.

"Hi, Gale." Prim said smiling. "You're the crazy guy that donated his blood on the aircraft, aren't you?" I blushed. "Rory told me."

"What? How -" I sputtered. Prim grinned and blushed a bit.

"Boggs told your ma who told Rory who told me." Prim explained. I took one of Catnip's hands in mine. "That's true love, Gale." I blushed even more. "Ok, I'm going to bed, Katniss. You be nice to Gale. He gave you blood. Bye." She kissed her sister's cheek before leaving the unit.

"Rest up now, ya hear?" I asked. "Your little duck is right. I love you." I whispered before kissing her forehead and then softly on her lips. I squeezed her hands gently before tucking the blankets around her one last time.

"Ready, son?" Beetee asked as the door to the Victors' unit closed behind me. The hallways of the hospital were dimmer as the lights were on a lower setting.

"Thanks for staying up with me. You didn't have to." I said sheepishly.

"I was a lovesick young man once too, Gale." Beetee chuckled. "Wiress' surgeries after her Games lasted at least twelve hours each. The one just to get her through her first twenty four hours was - well - twenty hours." I whistled in awe. "Yeah. Oh my wires, _that_ got me frazzled, let me tell you."

"I bet." I muttered. I paused. "Beetee, what if she never loves me?" Beetee sighed.

"That will hurt, Gale. But if you know in your heart you did everything to help her and you did everything you could to be by her side, that's your consolation." Beetee sighed. "When Wiress -" He choked up. "In the clock arena -"

"When she was attacked by Gloss?" I asked. Beetee paused before choking back a sob.

"I'm sorry son - when -" Beetee cleared his throat. "When that happened, Gale, my first thought was, 'I've lost her.' I felt terrible. I should've let someone more aware clean the wire, yet I knew she would have wanted to do it." He sighed. "When Dr. Aurelius told me that she would live after she caught pneumonia, but she might have profound brain damage, I - I was grateful for the twenty years we had, even if the next twenty would look drastically different. Even if she could never remember me or speak my name - I - Knowing I did all I could for her and knowing I would continue to do what I could for her helped." I nodded. "You're already on that path, Gale." Beetee said smiling. A door opened and I realized we were outside the Teslas' compartment. Wiress poked her head into the hallway and hummed for Beetee before smirking at him. "Yes, hon, I'm coming." She grinned and waved his pajama shorts in the air. "Wiress - there are others out here -" He sputtered embarrassed. "See you in the morning, Gale."

"See you. Thanks for everything." I said chuckling. "You too, Mrs. Tesla." Wiress nodded to me before pulling her husband into their compartment giggling. I heard them share a slobbery kiss before the door closed.

_The Nerds always seem to have fun around each other. Why can't my Catnip and I be like that?_ I thought as I took off my shirt and looked at my muscles that Catnip's hands had skimmed. I lay in my barracks thinking. I closed my eyes and sighed. "Catnip. Catnip." I whispered as I tossed and turned trying to fall asleep. "My Catnip. _My Mockingjay._"

"Trying to get it off, Hawthorne?" One of the young recruits asked.

"Shut up." I growled before taking my hands out of my briefs before tossing them and my pajama pants to the floor. Laying completely bare on top of my blankets, I closed my eyes picturing Catnip and times hunting. She would laugh as we'd joke around in the woods. How we could just be ourselves and forget that we were teenagers thrust into the role of parents and providers for our younger siblings.

One day Catnip showed me the lake where she would go with her father and we found the old cabin that was more of a ruin than anything else. I still remembered the look she got on her face: imagining her and I fixing up the old place, taking our parents and siblings to live a life away from the Seam, away from the oppression of the Capitol. I also remembered how I had stood near the fireplace holding her in my arms as she imagined living in the little house. I could repair the fireplace, start a fire, get some bread and do a toasting. Catnip would be mine and I would be hers. I remember holding her a bit closer and memorizing how she felt against me and how her grey eyes locked with mine with complete trust.

Now that was all gone. I sighed before crawling under the blankets desperately wishing I had my Catnip, my Mockingjay by my side. _Maybe one day. Maybe when this is all over._ I thought. With that sliver of hope, I entered my dreams where I was carefree with my hunting partner in our woods once again.


	23. Chapter 23

"Gale, _GALE!" _I sighed. _Always while I'm showering!_ I grumbled to myself. A familiar hand rapped on the door of my stall.

"Catnip, just come in here if ya want." Catnip came in and hung her workout uniform on the door before joining me. It was her first week of training after her surgery.

"Hey, how you doing?" I asked wrapping her in a gentle hug.

"Ugh. I hurt." She groaned.

"Training does that to you." I whispered before kissing her as she clung to me. I gently massaged her ribs. "Sorry." I whispered as she winced.

"It's ok. I should've been training ages ago." I smiled in her hair as she traced my muscles with her hands working the knots out. "Gale, I'm training for Squad 451. That's - That's the one you're on?" I nodded.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm the Mockingjay." Catnip replied. I nodded and ran my fingers through her hair as she gently nipped my shoulder, her arms around my waist. "I want to do this." She sighed. "I guess it took me long enough to realize that."

"You've had a lot to deal with." I whispered. She nodded as tears welled up in her eyes. I held her close as she cried.

"We should get going." She whispered a few minutes later. I gently kissed her before we dressed and resumed another round of training.

"Stay with me?" Catnip asked as we walked out of the Military Training Gymnasium.

"Huh?" I asked. Catnip paused. "Ok." I said. "Are you sure, Catnip?" She nodded. I told the barracks leader that I would be in another part of District Thirteen. After his ok, I followed Catnip to her and Jo's compartment.

"Needed your hunk of muscle tonight, brainless?" Jo asked as she lay flopped on her stomach reading a military training manual.

"Shut up, Jo!" Catnip yelped. I chuckled and blushed.

"Ok, well, don't be too loud." Jo muttered.

"Hey, I was thinking that he could test us on some weapons stuff!" Catnip yelped. I chuckled and settled myself on one of the desk chairs as Catnip sat on her bunk. True to my word, I quizzed the ladies on weapons and tactics for half an hour before Jo's loud yawning became more frequent. She pulled the blankets over her head as I crawled into Catnip's bunk. I smiled feeling Catnip's body molding around mine, knowing I was providing a very real layer of security and warmth for her to rest. "Thank you, Gale." Catnip whispered.

"Any time, Catnip. Any time." I whispered in her ear watching her sleep before joining her in my dreams a moment later.

"Wow. Either you guys were tired or you guys are _stealth_ when it comes to doing your business -" A voice cackled way too early the next morning.

"Shut up, Jo!" We both yelped opening our eyes to find Johanna Mason staring down at us, a smirk on her face.

"Get up, Muscles. Brainless." She said before going into the bathroom.

"Did they move the breakfast time up for us?" Catnip asked around a yawn. I looked on the clock above the door.

"Nope." I said before sighing. We walked hand in hand to the dining hall. The people were more excited and chatty than usual.

"Gale, you gonna dance with Katniss?" Posy asked me as we sat down.

"Huh?" I asked.

"At the wedding, dork." Vic quipped kicking me under the table. _Oh yeah. The Odair wedding._

"Probably." I said offhandedly. "When is it again?"

"It's Saturday!" Posy squealed. "I'm gonna be a princess! Vic gonna be a prince and Rory gonna be a prince too!" Ma smiled.

"Katniss goin' back to Twelve to get some dresses, huh, baby?" She cooed at Posy who giggled.

"We gonna be so pretty, Gale!" I smiled. On closer observation, most of the females at the table were chatting about the wedding.

"I bet ya are." I said grinning at my baby sister. Later that day, I volunteered to go back to Twelve with Katniss to help her get some clothes from Victors' Village. However, I was regretting it when I stood in one of the many spare bedrooms looking at piles of brightly colored cloth. "Catnip!" I yelped. "You done gonna make up your mind?"

"I - well - I just don't know if Annie will go for the sea green or more of a light blue -" Katniss held up two dresses that sort of looked like the same one except one was more greenish and one was more bluish.

"Can't ya just take 'em both?" I asked.

"Oh - ok." She said. I looked at the piles of fabric on some chairs.

"Catnip, let's just take the whole load. That's too many clothes just to waste." I said. "Here. I'll help." I picked up the bundles of cloth.

"Gale!" Katniss yelped. "Be careful! They're - Cinna made them."

"Oh. Right." I said. She took the dresses she'd give to Annie in a separate bag.

People gaped at us as we walked down the halls of Thirteen bearing our very colorful loads that stood out against the grey drab of the whole district. "Plutarch?" I called kicking the door to his office with my foot.

"Coming, Gale!" He called before opening the door. "Well, you folks certainly brought back some nice things!"

"Annie can chose the dress she likes and - I guess the citizens can use the rest of the dresses - as fabric or just wear them, I guess." Katniss suggested. I nodded. "Let's go." She said pulling me out of Plutarch's office leaving him to sort through the piles we brought him.

The wedding itself was great. Everyone looked nice. Some fabric from Katniss' dresses were used to make ties and other accessories for everyone else in the district. "Vic, I think ya do it like - um -" I fiddled with the pesky strip of orange fabric Vic had around the collar of his shirt. "I dunno -" I sighed wishing Dad was still here to at least attempt to help me teach Vic and Rory how to tie ties.

"Need a hand?" I turned around. Beetee and Wiress standing at the door to my compartment. Ma and Posy were in the bathroom and I was helping the boys with their button up shirts and ties.

"Sure." I said gratefully. "Boys, Mr. Tesla will take it from here." Beetee was patient with the boys teaching them how to tie their ties.

"Gale?" He showed me and we all looked at each other grinning.

"Thanks, Beetee!" I said grinning.

"No problem." Beetee chuckled. "Well, I'm going to the Collective so my wire and I can get good seats." I waved at Wiress who was wearing her grey dress with a light purple sash and a thin gold ribbon in half of her hair that was pulled up.

"MA! POSY! HOW LONG DO IT TAKE TO PUT ON THEM DRESSES?" I called five minutes after Beetee left. The door opened and two unrecognizable people stepped out of the bathroom. Ma was in a dark blue dress with a ribbon going through curls piled up on top of her head. Posy had on a light green dress with a ribbon around her head like a headband.

"We be princesses!" She squealed.

"Y'all look beautiful." I said kissing Ma and Posy. "We gotta go." Ma and I led the excited gang of Hawthorne kids down the halls to Collective. "Now y'all hush up when the ceremony start, ok?"

"Kay." Posy and Vic muttered before looking around again.

"Kids, did you hear that?" Ma asked. "Whaddya say?"

"Yes, Gale." Three voices chimed. I chuckled and nodded at them. Catnip came over to me in a red dress that looked similar to the interview dress she wore before her first Games, but much less frilly. She didn't protest as I took her hand before the ceremony began. The bride and groom beamed through the whole thing. Finally, everyone cheered in unison as Finnick and Annie Odair practically skipped back down the aisle.

The town fiddler from home struck up some easy dance numbers to begin the reception after the Odairs had their first dance. Posy squealed and danced with Vic. I danced with Ma for a bit. "Just do it, Rory." I said as Rory glanced over at Prim for the third time in five minutes. I kicked Rory in his heel for a bit of encouragement. To my satisfaction, he came over to her, blushing and pulling on his tie moments before they joined everyone on the dance floor. "Finally." I muttered to Ma. She chuckled.

"When did Rory grow so fast?" She asked watching him nervously lead Prim in some dances.

"Dunno." I grunted.

"You kids done grew too fast." Ma whispered. She smiled at me. "I'm proud of ya, Gale."

"Thanks, Ma." I said. I saw Katniss sitting in a chair watching everyone. Her look told me that she didn't want to be the center of attention. I shrugged. _Who cares._ Even if she would be, they would still focus on the Odairs eventually. _  
_

"Go dance with her." Ma said grinning after the third time I glanced at Katniss.

"I think she just wants to sit, Ma." I muttered. She had danced with Prim a bit earlier for a few songs.

"Gale Hawthorne, I'll smack ya if ya don't mind me." Ma playfully scolded.

"Yes'm." I chuckled. Ma practically shoved me in my Catnip's direction. "Hey, Catnip." I said smiling. I offered her my hand. "How those ribs?" I asked quietly.

"Good." Catnip said. I held her close as we danced. The fiddler struck up a livelier tune. Katniss took Prim's hand as we all formed a circle and began to teach the other guests the dance. At the right moment, I picked my Catnip up and twirled her around as everyone cheered and clapped. When we all looked near tuckered out, some of the kitchen staff rolled out a giant multi tiered frosted cake with frosting boats on it. We cheered as the Odairs cut their first piece of cake and fed it to each other. "Oh my -" Catnip gasped looking at the cake. I squeezed her hand.

"That's his." I whispered. _Peeta's._ Catnip nodded. I put my arms around her waist as she turned around and buried her face in my chest. I stroked her hair as she cried silently. I kissed the top of her head. "He done a good job." I whispered. "He done good, Catnip."

"I - I don't know - what - to make of - what to think -" Catnip stammered.

"Ssh, it's ok. I think they're still gonna watch him. He done gave the Odairs a good gift." Catnip nodded. We danced to a slower song. I smiled at Beetee and Wiress who were swaying to the music, wrapped in each other's arms, and gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Wiress traced the side of Beetee's face with her fingertips before kissing him gently but soundly. I looked down at my Catnip who smiled at me. I nudged her nose with mine. She blinked and looked at the cake again before meeting my eyes with hers that were clouded once again with confusion. I kissed her on the cheek. "You look pretty, Catnip." I said smiling. "You and Prim."

"Did Rory behave himself?" Catnip asked. I glanced over at Prim and Rory who were sitting at a table near the dance floor with Ma and a sleeping Posy in her lap. Vic was dancing with a girl in his class somewhere. Prim was chatting animatedly and making motions with her hands.

"Yeah. They're yonder." I said nodding my head in their direction. "Prim is probably telling him about some giant surgery she helped in -"

"Gale!" Katniss yelped. I chuckled.

"Naw, if Rory tried to suck the face offa your Prim, I'da socked him good." She chuckled. The celebration ended and I helped Ma carry a sleeping Vic back to their compartment. Katniss was pretty sore, so I stayed with her and Jo to help her get ready for bed. She had a lot on her mind, as she lay stiffly, not relaxing into my embrace as we fell asleep. Even if the wedding cake made her long for Breadboy, the dances with me reminded both of us that we were still friends.


	24. Chapter 24

I felt Katniss shifting around before I opened my eyes the morning after the Odair wedding. She went still before a soft kiss was planted on my forehead. I smiled before feeling another hesitant kiss on my cheek. She lay back but I felt her hands trace my arm muscles before her fingers brushed my pecs. I opened my eyes. "Gale," She whispered. Grinning I kissed her on her lips before she put her arms around my neck. I pulled her close and she wrapped her legs around my hips. "Gale - Gale -" She gasped as our bodies began moving with each other automatically.

"My beautiful Catnip." I whispered as her hands trailed across my muscles and I sighed contentedly as my Catnip whispered my name against my skin.

"Whoa - hey - I'm still in here, Brainless and Muscles!" Jo yelped. I grunted and attempted to pull our tangled sheets over our hips. "Nice backside, Hawthorne." Jo laughed. I was facing the wall shielding Catnip from view, but she still blushed anyway. "When you're done banging each other, Boggs wants the Victors in Command." She called before leaving the room muttering to herself.

"Thanks, Jo!" Catnip called. We finished our business in the shower and were headed to Command a too short five minutes later. Our hands were entwined under the table as Boggs began talking. Jo kept on smirking at us.

"Where are the Teslas?" Coin asked. Giggling outside the door alerted us to Wiress' presence. Beetee opened the door for her and she smiled shyly at us before sitting down and pulling a chair out for her husband.

"Our apologies, Madame President." Beetee said. "We were - a bit preoccupied which was the cause for our later start this morning." Both of them blushed a bit. Jo arranged her face into a purely disgusted look aimed at all four of us.

"Well, let's begin. The Odairs have the whole day free to - ah - adjust to life as a married couple." Boggs explained. "At any rate, we are here to assemble the Star Squad otherwise known as Squad 451."

"Why are we named the Star Squad, sir?" I asked.

"Soldier Hawthorne, the Star Squad will be filmed in combat situations to continue boosting the morale of the districts and the rebels located within the Capitol itself."

"Combat situations." Katniss said quietly.

"You will be in the Capitol securing easy to take regions and providing back up support to the other rebel units who have secured other areas all while being filmed." President Coin explained. "Mockingjay, you, Soldier Hawthorne, Officer Boggs, Officers Leegs, Finnick Odair, and Johanna Mason will comprise Squad 451." Coin paused. "In the event Odair or Mason is not available for duty, their position will be replaced by Peeta Mellark."

"What?" Catnip asked shakily. I wrapped her clammy grip in a tighter hold and ran my thumb across the back of her hand. _It's ok, Catnip. _"Peeta -" She gulped.

"Mr. Mellark is currently receiving basic military training and will join Squad 451." Coin repeated. "The doctors have cleared him for duty if needed." Catnip nodded and had a far-off look on her face.

"What role will the remaining victors play?" Beetee asked before looking at Wiress and then returning his attention to Coin. "I suppose I will continue to manage the airing of the propos, Madame President?"

"Correct, Mr. Tesla. Mrs. Tesla will continue in her repair duties, and Mr. Abernathy will help in various other ways." Coin explained.

"Huh - wha -" Haymitch mumbled in the corner of the table. Wiress hummed and prodded his shoulder so he was sitting. "Present, Madame President." He slurred before chuckling as he drank out of his flask. "Present - President - heh heh!" I bit my lip to keep from laughing. Coin stared at him warily before nodding to Boggs.

"Does anyone else have any questions?" Boggs asked. Wiress hummed and raised her hand. She began typing on her tablet that she used in Two. _  
_

_What equipment needs to go to - _She looked at Catnip and I. _I will make it a priority to fix - _She looked around, a far away look in her eyes indicating her thoughts were elsewhere. Beetee prodded her gently before she blinked and settled her gaze on Coin.

"Yes, we have chosen the equipment to repair that is essential to the duties of Squad 451." Coin replied. Wiress hummed and smiled at us.

"I know you'll do a great job, Wiress." Catnip said quietly. Wiress' large eyes lit up as she gave my Catnip a big smile. Beetee wrapped her hand that was resting on the table and grasped it firmly.

"Thank you. Meeting adjourned." Coin said. We stood as she left the room. I was tempted to go straight to Catnip and Jo's compartment to make sure Jo was in tip top shape to join us.

"Peeta -" Catnip whispered as we got our lunch.

"I know, Catnip." I whispered wrapping an arm around her waist as I waited for my slushy brown soup.

"No - Peeta -" Catnip pointed to a table. Peeta was chained to a soldier, but he was definitely sitting in the cafeteria.

"Mutt -" Peeta whispered staring at Catnip. I put a hand out in front of her and stepped in front of her.

"Say that again?" I growled, my knuckles turning white as I gripped my metal tray. I realized that I could use it as a bashing tool if needed.

"Take Soldier Everdeen to another table please, Soldier Hawthorne." The soldier watching Peeta commanded.

"Yes, sir." I said steering Catnip to another table gulping my soup out of the bowl as I walked. Catnip sat down and I sat behind her straddling her. Putting my hands on her hips, I settled her on my lap.

"Gale!" Catnip yelped.

"I won't let anyone hurt ya, Catnip." I whispered into her hair before wrapping my arms around her middle and resting my chin on her shoulder opposite of her braid so my lips had access to the smooth skin of her neck.

"Oh, Gale, do you really think Peeta would hurt me?" Katniss asked looking over at me after a few bites of soup. My grip tightened around her.

"He done tried strangling ya, remember?" I growled, my body tensing up at the memory. She nodded.

"But - he's changed. He's getting better, Gale." Katniss replied.

"Best not take chances if I can help it." I whispered before kissing and nibbling at her neck. Feeling eyes watching me, I turned around and saw Peeta's icy blue stare locked on Catnip and I. After glaring at him for a long minute, I turned my attention back to Catnip's neck and shoulder.

"Gale - you tickle. I can't eat." Catnip whispered before suppressing a moan as I worked her shoulder with my mouth.

"I'm showing them you're mine." I whispered. When she was done, I took both of our trays and led her away from the table, my arm around her waist so our sides were pressed together. Shooting Breadboy one more glare, I gave him a curt nod. _I will kill you if you hurt what I love. If you hurt what is mine. _


	25. Chapter 25

"Today is it." Katniss whispered as I held her close a few weeks later. "We're being tested."

"They'll pass you, don't worry, Brainless." Jo said from her bunk. "Right, Muscles?" She asked me. "I mean, she's the Mockingjay."

"Yeah." I grunted. "Do any of you ladies need to review anything?" I asked rolling over so I was laying on my back, one hand behind my head and another wrapped around my Catnip.

"Nah. I'm just reviewing your muscles, Muscles." Jo said smirking standing over our bed. I yelped and pulled the sheet that was hanging loosely around my hips to my shoulders. "Oh, c'mon, Brainless can't have _all_ the fun here!"

"Go away, Jo." Catnip said half-heartedly while rolling her eyes.

"Suit yourself. The weapons test is at 1000!" Jo called before leaving.

"You'll do fine, Catnip." I said. We got ready for the day in silence and I walked her to the weapons room where Jo waved her over to one of the long tables. The instructor handed her an exam booklet and I gave them both a thumbs up as I left.

Working out, I thought of Catnip. I knew she had it in her to pass. She just needed to realize it for herself. I ran around the track picturing Catnip running through the woods with her bow and arrow. I practiced some hand to hand combat and practiced scaling a brick wall to simulate climbing around in an urban environment. Finally, I would take down the Capitol scum and I would have my Catnip by my side!

"Gale?" Catnip called poking her head into the weight room where I was using weights with some other soldiers. The guy I was spotting on the bench press put the dumbell up.

"Good job, soldier." I grunted grinning before slapping him on the back. "Catnip!" I called. Leaving my shirt bunched up by the bench-press, I ran over and wrapped my arms around her.

"I passed, Gale!" She whispered in my ear as if she couldn't believe it herself. I picked her up and twirled her around laughing.

"Catnip - my Catnip -" I grinned at her. "Let's get ya cleaned up." I said as we headed to the showers. We had barely latched the door closed before we were up against the wall reveling in each other knowing we'd be going on the most important mission of our lives.

"Catnip, I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it - I knew -" I whispered in Catnip's hair as I ran my fingers through her locks, washing the shampoo off. After ten minutes of letting the shower run, I figured we should actually soap up.

"Oh, Gale," Catnip whispered kissing me as she rinsed my shoulders off. "Not without you."

"I know. I know, Catnip." I breathed into her ear before she kissed me.

"Soldiers Everdeen and Hawthorne!" Boggs called knocking on the door. _How did he know where we were?_ I asked myself before blushing realizing my Catnip and I had both cried each other's names while in our throes of passion making us pretty easy to track down.

"Yessir?" I asked saluting even though Boggs couldn't see through the door. The gesture earned me a playful slap from my Mockingjay.

"Report to Command within five minutes. There has been a personnel change in Squad 451."

"Thank you, Officer Boggs. We'll be out shortly."

"Ah - yes, I figured you two were about done." Boggs said chuckling before he left the shower area.

We dressed in clean fatigues and went to Command where Boggs, Coin, Plutarch, Finnick, Beetee, and Wiress were waiting. "Finnick, you're coming too?" Katniss asked.

"Yup, but that's not the change." Finnick responded looking at President Coin.

"Johanna Mason was unable to complete her military testing." She announced. "Peeta Mellark will replace her on Squad 451."

"Madame President, taking into consideration Soldier Mellark's recent hijacking," I began.

"This personnel change is on _my orders,_ Soldier Hawthorne." Coin said sternly. "He is fit for combat and I will send him."

"Yes, ma'am." I said, my stomach dropping. Catnip laced her fingers with mine as Beetee cleared his throat.

"However, Mr. Mellark will not be part of the core team. You, Finnick, Gale, and Katniss will be with Boggs leading." Beetee explained. Wiress took a cloth off of a round piece of equipment sitting on the table. "Wiress and I have completed designing and building The Holo which shows the streets and pods within the Capitol."

"Pods." Catnip said. "Those are the Capitol's security system."

"Yes." Plutarch said. "Pods can be anything - explosives, a large trap, mechanisms to release gas if tripped." He gestured to the dots in random areas." Catnip gulped as she and Finnick exchanged glances. I watched them as the realization hit me too: The Capitol is another arena. "The holo will reveal those making navigating the Capitol a bit easier on your part. It is activated so it responds to one voice only." He punched a button and motioned for everyone to fall silent.

"Officer Boggs." Boggs said. "Commanding officer of Squad 451." The Holo beeped before Boggs closed the lid to cover the buttons and put it back in its cloth bag. Wiress tapped the hard shell and motioned for everyone to get a closer look.

_This shell is bullet and shatter resistant -_ She explained before gazing at it and running her fingers along the smooth surface.

"However, if given a certain command, it will explode. This is only to be used as a last resort, of course." Beetee explained. "To make sure it doesn't get into the wrong hands."

"Any questions?" Coin asked. A million questions buzzed through my head: _Why are you sending Peeta? Are you sure he is safe? How does my Catnip feel about him being on our squad?_ Yet I knew I couldn't get the answers in that room. Her question was met with silence. "Meeting adjourned."


	26. Chapter 26

Catnip was silent as we ate lunch. We were joined by Peeta and his guards shortly after sitting down. He stared at Annie and Finnick as they ate with Finnick putting a protective arm around his new wife. "So you believe the mutt?" Peeta asked looking at them. "You're friends with her?"

"Breadboy." I growled.

"Gale." Catnip admonished. "Peeta, sit down." Jo sat next to Annie as an extra layer of security.

"You don't need to protect her. You need to kill her. I told you! She's a mutt!" He looked at Annie again.

"Thank you for the wedding cake, Finnick." Annie said smiling kindly at him. Peeta glared at my Catnip through the whole meal. She got up to throw her tray away and I stood up. I would not dare leave her unprotected while in the same room with Peeta even if there were a hundred others in the room.

"Gale, you're not done yet." Catnip said looking down at my half eaten sandwich on my plate.

"I'm coming with you." I said linking my arm with hers as I escorted her to the dish room. I wolfed down my sandwich as we came back for my tray. "Let's go."

"Don't you want to stay and chat with the Odairs?" Catnip asked. One glance at Peeta's icy blue eyes made my stomach tighten and my grip tighten around Catnip's hand. "Sorry everyone. We need to get going." She said apologetically.

"Mutt." Peeta muttered. That. Was. It. I whirled around and slammed my hands down on the table before leaning over into Peeta's face ignoring Catnip indignantly snapping at me.

"Ya listen to me good, Breadboy!" I hissed. "Ya make one wrong move toward my Catnip and I _will_ beat your hijacked ass down, boy!" I snarled. Peeta stared back at me. "Don't. Test me." I grabbed Catnip's arm and practically dragged her out of the dining hall.

"Gale!" Catnip yelped pulling free from my grasp in the hallway. "What the Snow was that for?" She screamed at me.

"WHADDYA MEAN, 'WHAT THE SNOW WAS THAT FOR?'" I roared. "Don't ya tell me that ya trust Breadboy -"

"QUIT CALLING HIM BREAD BOY! HE HAS A NAME!" Catnip screamed.

"Mellark." I spat. "Damn Mellark who tried to _kill ya,_ Catnip!"

"He saved me several times in the Arena if you haven't forgotten!" Catnip yelled back. "Are you jealous, Gale?" She hissed, her grey eyes showing a mix of hurt and anger. "Was that why ya wanted me for the past few weeks?" She asked in a low voice. "Because Peeta couldn't?"

"So, what do _you_ want? Did _you_ only want me because you couldn't have Peeta?" I asked slowly. "I love you, Catnip." I said trying to calm down even though I was physically shaking. "I love you and I - I thought you love me." A million emotions flashed across those lovely grey eyes before my Catnip stormed down the hallway to who knows where. I sighed and stomped off to the military gym to run, kick, box, and otherwise exercise away the pain.

After several hours of working out, I looked at my schedule and realized I still had time for 'outdoor training' aka hunting. It was a brisk winter day, and I could see my breath as I made traps for the few animals that weren't hibernating. After snaring a few squirrels, I sensed a familiar figure poking around in the woods. "Catnip." I whispered. Catnip peered out from behind a tree.

"Gale." She said simply. She met my gaze before staring at something in her hands.

"What you got in your hands?" I asked. She held a ball of pine needles wrapped in a white cloth.

"For Jo." She explained. I put my hands over hers as we both held the pine needle ball. "She's in the hospital. I thought it would remind her of home." I smiled at her.

"This reminds me of home." I said smiling wrapping my hands tighter around hers. Her eyes widened as she stared into my face.

"The woods?" Katniss asked looking around. Automatically, my right hand reached up and rested on her cheek.

"Not just the woods." I whispered. "You." Our noses touched as we moved closer together. "Where I first fell in love with you, my Catnip." I whispered.

"Oh, Gale." She whispered. "Gale, I want to run away - from all this - but - I can't. I can't just abandon the revolution - Peeta - I can't -" I gulped.

"Catnip, what would you do if you could get away. Even for five minutes?" I asked.

"I - why did you ask me that?" She asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Because I want to talk to the real Catnip." I said. "Not the Mockingjay. You." I rested my hands on her shoulders as she stared at the ground for a second before looking up and pressing her lips to mine.

"Gale - I'm - so confused - but - don't just - don't-" She gasped in between both our desperate kisses.

"What ya need, Catnip?" I asked holding her close as she pressed her face into my neck. She raised her face again and cupped my face in her hands.

"Take me away, Gale. For five minutes. Please." She pleaded. Even if it was just an escape, even if she didn't really love me, I gave in because I loved her and I would be there for her with whatever she needed. "_Gale!_" She moaned as she dug her fingers into the ridges of my shoulder muscles as I held her tight on our bed made up of our clothes on the forest floor.

"Catnip." I whispered as love for my Girl on Fire consumed both of us. "Ya know I'll always love you." I whispered before kissing her as she moved with me. "Do ya understand me, Catnip? I love you."

"Gale -" Catnip whispered looking into my face. Her fingers traced my hardened muscles as she felt the real physical protection and escape I provided. "Oh, Gale." A tear streaked down her cheek before I kissed it away as she lay on her side molded against me. "I need you." I nodded. The anklets that broadcasted our location to Command inside Thirteen buzzed letting us know our hunting curfew was approaching. Catnip sat up and pulled on her clothes. I watched her, too lazy to move. "Gale," She whispered before trailing kisses over my still exposed body. "I'm -"

"Sssh, Catnip." I whispered before pulling her down in another hug. She kissed me gently, but her grey eyes reflected sadness.

"I'm sorry." She whispered before taking Jo's pine needle ball and walking off toward the entrance to Thirteen. I threw on my clothes and decided to head back too. _Catnip needs me._ That colored everything we did together - training together, our physical closeness, why she would always come back to me. I sighed. Even if she still loved Mellark after all this was done, I think I would be ok with her merely needing me. Because during those moments, I had loved her with everything I had.


	27. Chapter 27

I opened my eyes as my communicuff buzzed. _600: Report to Command at 630 to board hovercraft as Squad 451. _ Catnip was dozing next to me. The tangled sheets around us and our pajamas strewn around the floor were an indication of our sleepless night before leaving for the Capitol. "Catnip." I whispered. She opened her grey eyes and sighed. Kissing her gently on the forehead, I helped her sit up. "Catnip, we gotta go today."

"I know." She murmured into my shoulder as her hands and lips trailed up and down my chest, back, and abs. Her touches communicated what words couldn't. That she was memorizing every part of me in case I never came back, and I had done the same with her.

"We're not gonna lose each other, Catnip." I whispered holding her close. "Ya hear me?" She nodded before we shared a gentle kiss. "Let's get 'em. I'll be with my Mockingjay." We dressed in silence and laced our fingers together as we walked hand in hand to Command. Beetee and Wiress took us to Special Weaponry where he gave us our bows and a large crate with our special arrows.

"Good luck, Soldier Hawethorne, Mockingjay." Beetee said solemnly. Wiress sniffled and threw her arms around Katniss and then me. She fussed over Katniss' braid and straightened the collar of my shirt as a motherly way of saying goodbye. "Hon, it's time for them to go."

"Beetee - Wiress -" I gulped looking at the older couple who had their arms around each other's waists as they eyed us with a mixture of hopefulness and sadness. "I -" I gulped. "Thanks -" I drew in a shaky breath. "Thanks for helping my Catnip and I. With everything." I paused. "You done good on our weapons."

"And," Catnip began softly. She cleared her throat. "And - Thanks for helping Gale, Beetee." She looked down at our linked hands. "Thank you." Beetee wiped his eyes and nodded.

"You're welcome. We're glad we could be here for you kids."

"Beetee." I said locking eyes with him as he shot a knowing glance at Catnip and myself. "Thanks for - thanks for your example." He pulled his wife closer and smiled. "Thanks for your example of love."

"Mockingjay! Soldier Hawethorne!" Boggs called from the hanger. "You can catch up with the tech crew during the victory celebration!" Catnip and I chuckled before following Boggs to our hovercraft.

"Beetee's example?" Katniss asked as we sat next to each other.

"Yeah." I said tightening my seat belt. I took her hand in mine again. "Catnip," I began. "I seen Beetee in the hospital every day when Wiress was laid up. I -" I gulped. "I done woulda gave up seeing you if Beetee wasn't there. He kept going and - so did I." Catnip nodded.

"Thank you." She said simply. The craft doors opened again and Peeta came in with his arms chained to two other soldiers. Even though he was part of the squad, I didn't trust him a lick around my girl. I glared at him as he walked by Catnip and I. "Gale," She said as Peeta was taken to another part of the craft. "You still have to be nice. To Peeta."

"I know." I muttered. "But I done told you, he hurts ya, I kill him." Catnip sighed and I steeled myself for a retort before she squeezed my hand again. I raised my eyebrows. Her face showed not anger but understanding.

"Thank you for watching out for me, Gale." She said, her face remaining soft.

"You're my Catnip." I whispered putting my hand on her cheek and rubbing my thumb across her skin. "You're my Mockingjay." I nuzzled my nose against hers. "Ya won't forget, will ya?" I asked quietly.

"No." Catnip whispered resting her head against my shoulder as the hovercraft took off. "Never."

* * *

A/N: Short but sweet to let you all know I'm still here! School and life changes have been taking up my previously allotted Fanfiction Time :)


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: This story has been on hiatus for quite some time due to good life-changes that have happened to the author! I am currently working on "Large Eyes Terrified" and will focus mainly on that before adding to this story. However, I will complete this story once the former is complete.

The battle scenes here will differ slightly from Mockingjay

* * *

"Positions!" Boggs barked. I cocked my M-16 before taking out two Peacekeepers hiding behind a colorful Capitol apartment building. Suddenly an explosion thundered behind me.

"WHAT THE HELL!" I screamed grabbing Catnip and throwing her to the ground to protect her.

"GALE!" Catnip yelped before her cry was silenced with my lips crashing against hers.

"I gotcha, my Catnip." I whispered as her rapid breath fanned across her face. I rolled to a siting position, embracing my hunting partner as we got to our feet.

"Cut!" Cressida called.

"Ya stop throwin' those damn fake grenades!" I snapped at Cressida, Pollux and Castor. "Ya better be glad I don' shoot y'all!" I grumbled.

"Gale," Catnip said reproachfully. "They need it for the propo." I huffed.

"I know you want to be in combat, son." Boggs said patting me on the shoulder as Squad 451 headed back to base camp outside the Capitol. "We'll get our chance. We've covered some ground."

"But we ain't doin' the hard stuff because we gotta be _pretty._" I snorted.

"If we were purely aiming for the 'pretty' I would be in combat naked." Finnick laughed causing Cressida, Soldier Leeg, and Catnip to blush. "Right, ladies?" Boggs rolled his eyes.

"Gale," Catnip whispered tugging on my hand. "It's ok. They just want me to be safe." I nodded as she led me back to our tent.

"Er - taking a break, Mockingjay and Hawthorne?" Boggs asked. Catnip nodded resolutely before throwing me down on our sleeping bags piled on top of each other. After making sure our weapons were locked and safely out of our way, Catnip launched a frontal assault on my muscles.

"Catnip - Catnip!" I breathed as her lips brushed my muscles before we began moving as one. "I love you, Catnip! I'll blow up - the whole - damn Capitol for you - CATNIP! MY MOCKINGJAY!" Catnip cried my name I before both of us lay spent and pleasantly exhausted.

"Gale -" Catnip whispered before trailing kisses over my lips, down my chin, and across my pecs.

"Are you guys done in there?" Peeta asked grouchily outside the tent.

"Shut up, Mellark!" I snapped. After my union with my Mockingjay, I was slightly more jealous than usual.

"We'll be out in a minute, Peeta!" Catnip called. "I suppose we should've kept it down."

"Holy mother of Snow, guys!" Finnick called. "And I thought Annie and I were loud -"

"SHUT THE SNOW UP, FINNICK!" Catnip and I hollered as she helped me tug my fatigues on. I helped her into her Mockingjay outfit and we emerged from the tent. Finnick and another soldier had Peeta chained to them.

"Now that Soldiers Hawthorne and Everdeen have joined us, we can plan our next propo." Boggs said holding the holo. We gathered around as he showed us a map of the Capitol. "After lunch, we're going down North 5th Avenue to take care of some pods. So it's an actual combat mission." He gave me a significant look. "The other rebel units will then be cleared to move further toward the City Center. Toward Snow." I formed my hand into a gun and shot the air.

"So we take out the pods and then what?" Catnip asked.

"Well, I figured we could camp out near that area and then figure out the next propo. I was just in a video conference with Plutarch and he said that it would be nice to show us camping further in the Capitol." We all nodded.

"Imagine, taking over someone's apartment and relaxing in their jacuzzi tub..." Finnick sighed. "Cressida, if that happens, feel free to take a hot picture of me and send it to the equally hot Mrs. Odair." Her cameramen snorted down laughter. "What?" Pollux tapped Castor and signed something to him grinning.

"NO!" Cressida yelled blushing. "You are NOT taking a photo of me in a Capitol tub, Pollux! I saw you signing!"

"Hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." I muttered getting glares from Cressida and Catnip. "Er - Boggs, what were you saying?" I asked quickly as our commander was looking at us amused.

"After lunch, we take out some serious pods. That's all!" Boggs said cheerfully.


	29. Chapter 29

I polished my automatic rifle and slung several chains of ammo over my shoulder. "Ya got your arrows, Catnip?" I asked as Catnip put her quiver over her shoulder and picked up her bow.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Camera crew at the ready?" Boggs asked taking one last look at the holo before closing it and stowing it in a backpack.

"Yes, sir." Cressida called.

"Odair? Mellark?" Boggs asked Peeta and Finnick who were chained together.

"This hotness is ready to roll!" Finnick called causing most of us to roll our eyes.

"Ready, sir." Peeta replied. He glanced at Catnip earning a glare from me. My eyes bore into his daring him to make a wrong move.

"Let's go down North Fifth Ave." Boggs called as we began marching toward the center of the Capitol. We stopped under the balcony of an apartment building. Finnick moved to the front of the line, his trident at the ready. "Aim. Fire!" Boggs called. Finnick threw his trident at a certain brick causing it to explode with flying glass. "COVER!" Boggs called as I shielded Catnip from the shards. "Odair?" Boggs asked.

"Oh yeah!" Finnick cheered standing in the street raising his trident and flexing his muscles for the camera crew.

"Good shot." Cressida remarked.

"Thanks." Finnick said winking. Pollux playfully smacked his boss and flexed his own muscles. Cressida laughed and took his hand. We walked several blocks before we paused yet again as Boggs double-checked his holo. I could hear Cressida ordering her camera crew to set up for the next shot. Stopping for them was intensely annoying, but complaining would only aggravate my Catnip. I gripped my rifle and scanned the area for soldiers or peacekeepers.

"Hawthorne and Mockingjay!" Boggs called. Catnip and I moved to the front of the line. "Do you see that?" I looked at the flickering silver spot on the sidewalk.

"Yessir." I said. Catnip loaded an explosive arrow and I cocked my gun. "Aim." I directed. "Fire!" Catnip launched her arrow and I fired. The pod was a large mine that blew the sidewalk to bits in a three foot radius. Once again, I shielded my Catnip from the debris. Suddenly I saw Peacekeepers out of the corner of my eye. "Cover!" I called. "I'll take this Capitol scum!" I began firing on the peacekeepers. "HELL YEAH! AAAW YEAH!" I cheered once the three bodies were riddled with bullets. Suddenly an explosion rocked the ground behind us. I swore and jumped on Catnip.

"GALE!" She snapped.

"I ain't letting them hurt you." I breathed. Catnip rolled her eyes.

"It was one of those fake bombs." She whispered. I bit my lip before her lips met mine.

"I got ya, Catnip - I got ya - my Mockingjay -" I breathed as I kissed her urgently and held her against me. "My Catnip -" I breathed trailing kisses down her throat.

"They have the picture already." Mellark said grumpily. "You can stop now."

"Shut up, baker-boy." I snarled as I helped Catnip to her feet.

"Cut it out, kids." Boggs called.

"Yessir." I called. I looked through the scope of my gun and took out an ornate windowsill just for the hell of it.

"Mellark, you're on the next pod." Boggs called. I cursed earning a slap from my Mockingjay.

"He can do it." Catnip said. "You don't get all the combat shots, you know."

"I know, Catnip." I muttered. Peeta shot at at a blinking light near a door to an office building and it let out smoke. We coughed and put our gas masks on. "Way to stink up the place, Breadboy!" I coughed.

"Shut up, Hawthorne!"

"OH GOD, MY NUTS ARE DISSOLVING!" Finnick screamed.

"That's gross, Finnick!" Catnip yelped.

"Pollux told me he got that on film." Cressida pointed out. Once the smoke cleared, we were still joking about Peeta dropping a stink-bomb on us when Boggs had us stop to check his holo.

"Good. We got most of this street. I think we can set up camp somewhere around here in a few hours." He stepped back on a cobblestone that exploded and launched him several feet back and spraying the rest of us with bright red blood.

"BOGGS!" I screamed. "CATNIP, STAY WITH HIM, I'M GONNA GUARD YA!" Catnip ran to Boggs who was laying on the ground, his legs blown off. Catnip tried to wrap a tourniquet around his limbs, but he shook his head. I saw several Capitol soldiers and took them out with one explosive arrow. "Catnip - Boggs -"

"Guard the Mockingjay. You've watched over her - good job, son." Boggs gasped.

"Yessir - thank you -" I said choking back my tears. "Thank you, sir." I held my commanding officer's hand as he passed the holo to my Catnip. When Bogg's grip went slack, I helped Catnip stand up. "We gotta move on, Catnip. He done gave that to you." She nodded. No matter what happened now, I would follow my commanding officer's last words. I would guard my Catnip even more than I ever had.

* * *

The battle sequence will differ a bit from Mockingjay from here on out.


	30. Chapter 30

We huddled around Boggs as Catnip returned the holo to him. Boggs spoke in to it transferring security clearance to Catnip. I put my hand on her shoulder to reassure her she had my trust. Suddenly Finnick yelled as black oily liquid squirted from a street forming a massive liquid wall. "RUN!" Finnick yelled.

"I GOT THIS, LEEG, C'MON!" I yelled at my fellow soldier as we unloaded our guns shooting at as many cobblestones as possible. A bomb detonated from one of our bullets. I don't look back at Bogg's cries in pain because I knew the sight of my Catnip and another soldier dragging him away from the black liquid would be too much. Even through the gunfire, I hear Catnip urging Boggs to stay with them. Suddenly Catnip's scream causes me to turn back.

"NO! PEETA!" She screamed as Peeta slammed her onto the ground. I loaded my bow and let an arrow fly as he raises his gun over her to kill her. She rolled out of the way a split second before the arrow embeds in Peeta's right shoulder. Mitchell, another soldier attempted to tackle Peeta and pin him to the ground.

"LEAVE HIM BE, I GOT HIM!" I yelled at Mitchell before Peeta threw him onto the block. Mitchell was instantly caught by a barbed wire trap. "I got ya, buddy!" I gasped as my gaze locked on his eyes that screamed fear and pain.

"THE FOG'S COMING DOWN! WE'RE GETTING INSIDE!" I holler as I shoot down a door before trying to shoot at the cables pulling the barbed wire tighter around Mitchell. "CATNIP, GET BOGGS INSIDE!" Catnip and another soldier dragged Boggs inside while Finnick fought off Breadboy with his trident. Finally the two camera men wrestle Peeta away from Finnick and pin him between themselves to march him inside.

"GALE, HURRY!" Catnip screamed at the door. I shook my head and shot at the cables holding Mitchell until I felt myself blacking out from the fumes.

"GALE!" Catnip shrieked as I ran inside the abandoned apartment unit where we had broken in.

"Fumes!" I gasp. The camera men grabbed some towels as I gag into the kitchen sink. I felt Catnip's hands rubbing my shoulders before she returned to Boggs. We all fell silent as we saw Boggs whisper something to Catnip before going still.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._ Oh. I looked at the closet and back at Pollux and Castor. Pollux mimed locking the door. "Right. Breadboy's in there." I muttered before his kicking stopped.

"I bet they set off the black wave manually when they saw us taping the propo." Castor said. We agreed to go back to camp.

"Give me the holo." Jackson, the second in command from Boggs said.

"No. Boggs gave it to me." Katniss insited as Jackson began arguing with her.

"It's true." Another soldier replied. "He transferred the prime security to her. I saw it."

"Why?" Jackson asked. _Because she's the Mockingjay._ I thought.

"To assassinate President Snow." My Catnip replied. Jackson insisted she give the holo to her.

"No." Catnip replied firmly. "That would be indirect violation of President Coin's orders." Jackson raised her gun at Catnip a second before I raised mine at her, pointed dead in the middle of her forehead.

"Ya make one move." I breathed glaring at Jackson as the other squad members pointed guns at who they wanted to die.

To my surprise, Cressida spoke in defense of Catnip. As production director for the propos, she had clout even though she's not military. Catnip decided to go out the way we came. I scraped off some goop from my shoe. "It's not corrosive." I informed the group. "It was supposed to suffocate or poison us." We gingerly made our way through the black tar and into another apartment. Just in time, the TV in the apartment breaks with a live newscast. We have all been declared dead.


End file.
